ST. VINCENT-Opposition party supporting cannabis village for St. Vincent and the Grenadines

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC—The leader of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), Dr. Godwin, says he supports the legalization of marijuana in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and that the party has a vision of a cannabis village.

“I am not afraid to say that I’m in favor of the legalization of marijuana in this country and to have that as an industry. That can be done to create wealth and opportunity for our people,” Friday told a ceremony marking the opening of the NDP’s North Leeward constituency office over the last weekend.

He said that the party’s candidate for the constituency, Dr. Kishore Shallow, the current President of Cricket West Indies, has outlined a vision of having a cannabis village.

“This is what the CARICOM Commission had recommended. And so, we are working along with that to see to what extent we can get it done now and how we can do it in the future. There is a lot of potential there.”

Friday said an NDP administration would create an environment in the north of St. Vincent “where you have better communication through a ferry service from this side of the country to Owia, on the other side.

“But not that alone. We want to have a connection between the north and St. Lucia as well and create the potential for economic synergies that we have not been able to imagine yet,” Friday said,

“You have Dr. Shallow as somebody who has proven to be a person of great ability, somebody of talent, and also the desire to do good in the region and here in his community,” he added.

Opposition legislator Fitz Bramble told the ceremony that marijuana “used to carry” the local economy.

“When school is open, all the ganja farmers come to town. Even town people used to benefit because when you go to town to buy your school books, you see brethren from Chateau. You say, ‘Boy, ah broken me. Help me with something.’”

Bramble said Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves destroyed the small marijuana farmers in North Leeward, “and now he’s giving all of the perks and all of the economic opportunities to these people. They’re talking about medical marijuana.

“He said: I will pursue those vagabonds until they no longer exist. And they coming and asking you for 30 years,” Bramble said, referring to a call by the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP), which has been in office for five consecutive terms, to be given another term in office.

“All the small farmers in this community who carry this community, who carry this country, now money dey fuh mek in marijuana, you take away the opportunity from them. No way should they get 30 years,” said Bramble.

Former parliamentary representative for the North Leeward constituency, Roland “Patel” Matthews, also blamed Prime Minister Gonsalves and the ULP for “the destruction of the marijuana industry in North Leeward.”

The Gonsalves government has decriminalized possession of up to two ounces of marijuana in certain circumstances. However, it opposes legalizing the plant, saying that international conventions prevent the government from doing so.

But Matthews noted that in 2016, the NDP, under Friday’s leadership, held a marijuana consultation, and “at that meeting, we said that when the New Democratic Party gets in office, we are going to do something to legalize marijuana cultivation.”

Matthews said the NDP had seen the changes that were taking place globally as regards attitudes towards marijuana.

“So, the New Democratic Party … said they were going to take it up because we realized that North Leeward, especially, had an economy that depended greatly on marijuana cultivation,” Matthews said, “we in this constituency benefited tremendously, hundreds of thousands of dollars from marijuana cultivation.”

Mathews said that the NDP in 2018 supported legislation to decriminalize possession of small quantities of the plant.

“We supported the bill. How can you expect a person like Patel Matthews, born and bred in North Leeward, from Peto, not to support that? I support the bill,” Matthews said, noting that during the debate, he spoke about his experience planting marijuana in the mountains before becoming a school teacher.

He recalled that he had told the government that if the medicinal marijuana industry was to succeed, every traditional ganja farmer must get a license.

“Because, if you don’t do that, the big boys will benefit, and the small man will get nothing… So say, so done. Right now, the North Leeward economy is flat because only the big boys benefit,” Matthews said.