Time to reconsider decriminalizing marijuana – Grenada Prime Minister

Time to reconsider decriminalizing marijuana – Grenada Prime Minister

GEORGE’S, Grenada – Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell believes the time has come for Grenada to reconsider decriminalizing the use of marijuana and other forms of recreational drugs. “More and more we are hearing about countries who are placing less importance on criminalizing the use of marijuana and other forms of recreational drugs but it’s an […]

Rastafarians face discrimination in some Caribbean countries – US State Department report

Rastafarians face discrimination in some Caribbean countries – US State Department report

The U.S. State Department said last week that Rastafarians in some Caribbean countries are still facing varied forms of discrimination. In its latest ‘International Religious Freedom Report for 2017,’ the US government said that Rastafarians claim they continue to face various forms of social discrimination in Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia […]

Jamaica plans to become the ‘ medical marijuana hub of the world’

Jamaica plans to become the ‘ medical marijuana hub of the world’

By Stephen Weir Audley Shaw, Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, will tonight  discuss with members of the Canadian business community Jamaica’s plans to become the “Medical Marijuana Hub of the World. ” Shaw will be one of  the keynote speakers at a meeting to be held at the Bay-Adelaide Center in downtown […]

Caribbean American legislator applauds bid to reduce unnecessary marijuana arrests

Caribbean American legislator applauds bid to reduce unnecessary marijuana arrests

NEW YORK – A Caribbean American New York City councilman has applauded New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that he will work to reduce unnecessary arrests and disparity in enforcement for marijuana possession in New York City. “As other states across the country legalise marijuana usage, the supposed progressive beacon of New York […]

Trinidad-Tobago senator calls for decriminalization of marijuana for medical use

Trinidad-Tobago senator calls for decriminalization  of marijuana for medical use

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad  -An independent senator is urging the Trinidad and Tobago government to allow for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, saying the initiative could also help in the diversification of the economy of the oil rich twin island republic. Senator Dr. Dhanayshar Mahabir, a University of the West Indies lecturer, said […]

Jamaica’s greatest crisis is human underdevelopment

Jamaica’s greatest crisis is human underdevelopment

Says finance minister at Toronto meeting By Lincoln DePradine Jamaica’s “biggest crisis’’ is not lack of economic growth, says the country’s finance minister Audley Shaw. Nor is it crime which  claimed 167 lives in August alone and is a major problem, Shaw told a Toronto audience on Sunday. “Our truly greatest crisis is a crisis […]

Belize gives nod to amendment of marijuana-related legislation

Belize gives nod to amendment of marijuana-related legislation

BELMOPAN, Belize— The Belize Parliament has given the green light to the amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act with bipartisan support. The Dean Barrow government had in August piloted the amendment to the legislation that also provides for monetary and non-recordable penalties for possession on school premises and in specified circumstances makes smoking on […]

Research shows marijuana users have higher risk of dying from hypertension

Marijuana use is associated with a three-fold risk of death from hypertension, according to research published last month in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. “Steps are being taken towards legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana in the United States, and rates of recreational marijuana use may increase substantially as a result,” said lead author Barbara […]

Marleys eyeing California ganja market

SAN FRANCISCO – Country singer Willie Nelson, the children of the late reggae icon Bob Marley and comedian Whoopi Goldberg are just a few of the growing number of celebrities publicly jumping into the marijuana industry and eyeing the California pot market, which is expected to explode after voters legalized the recreational use of weed. […]

Jamaica turns to ‘cannabis-infused tourism’

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – Jamaica is trying to cash in on the multi-billion-dollar health and wellness tourism sector that several Caribbean countries are turning to in order to boost visitor numbers, but it won’t be traditional medicine it plans to use to reach a high in tourist arrivals. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said Jamaica’s lush […]