Rethink of drug facilities needed

One of the island’s leading drug addiction counselling centres is questioning the relevance of the state-owned National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) and the Drug Treatment Court.

Using the Government’s move to decriminalize half ounce or less of marijuana as his point of reference, founder of the Centre for Counselling Addiction Support Alternatives (CASA) Orlando Jones is adamant that the court and NCSA may now be pointless.

“Of course, with the change in the approach of the Government and the attitude and legislation, that changes the whole dynamics now about how we deal with marijuana in Barbados,” Jones told Barbados TODAY.

“Only today I was thinking to myself, what really is the purpose of the NSCA and the Drug Treatment Court? That is a question that now has to be raised, because if people can walk around with an amount of marijuana on their person, things like the Drug Treatment Court is no longer relevant,” said the outspoken veteran drug counsellor and retired mental health nurse.

Jones is therefore calling for a debate on the issue by all of the agencies involved in drug counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.

In fact, he has said he will lead by example in returning to the drawing board.

“I have said to my people at CASA we must now review our whole approach to how we deal with persons – first-time users who have been arrested for small amounts of marijuana – because if the legislation is saying you are allowed to have X amount of the substance on you, it means that the cases of people being arrested and then sent for treatment is no longer going to be as valid as before,” he argued.

Jones is suggesting that agencies like his would now have to re-think what their professionals say to persons seeking their help, particularly young people.

“Young people are of the view that it is harmless, so there needs to be a debate. We are having a meeting tomorrow and we will be looking at rebranding what we do. But all the agencies have to have a conversation,” he added.

Just over a year ago, the law providing the legal foundation for a medical cannabis industry in Barbados overcame a final parliamentary hurdle after being approved by the Senate.

The law, which covers activities related to cultivation, processing, dispensing, export and research empowers the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority to develop policies and guidelines for a newly-regulated medicinal marijuana industry.

The Senate passed the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Bill close to midnight on November 27, two weeks after its passage through the House of Assembly.

The Senate also approved the Sacramental Cannabis Bill, 2019, which allows members of the Rastafarian religion to cultivate and consume marijuana as a sacrament in worship.  Governor General Dame Sandra Mason signed off on both pieces of legislation, and they were published in the Extraordinary Gazette on November 29, making them official.

The island will adopt a tiered approach to cultivation and processor permits, ranging from Tier 1 for small-scale cultivation to Tier 3 for large-scale farms.

Barbados will require license holders to be citizens, permanent residents, hold immigrant status (which can be gained through investing) or be a citizen of a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state.

The cannabis bill allows medical cannabis to be prescribed by a practitioner to Barbadians or to visitors.

When contacted this evening, Manager of the NCSA Betty Hunte was not in a position to comment at the time, while Magistrate Elwood Watts, who manages the Drug Treatment Court could not be reached.
(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)