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The growing number of countries lifting harsh penalties for marijuana use is helping to reduce religious discrimination against Rastafarians and other groups, the US State Department found in an annual report released Wednesday.

While the federal government reiterates that there is ongoing discrimination based on cannabis in some countries and territories, the latest edition of the Report on International Religious Freedom rejects recognition of the discrimination that exists in the US, where marijuana persists nationwide illegal.

“Religious freedom is a human right; In fact, it is about what it means to be human – to think freely, to follow our consciences, to change our beliefs when our hearts and minds cause us to express those beliefs publicly and privately. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a briefing about the report. “For many people around the world, this right is still inaccessible.”

The new Foreign Ministry document discusses cannabis policies in more than a dozen countries and their overlap with religious freedoms, including by noting that a growing movement towards legalization and decriminalization is helping to alleviate the discrimination that has prevailed in the past.

Here is a breakdown of the report’s findings:

This country is implementing reforms that will reduce feelings of religious discrimination related to cannabis.

It decriminalized marijuana “for all uses” and the new law “recognizes the government’s responsibility to uphold the religious rights of Hindu and Rastafarian persons,” the State Department said.

In addition, members of these faith groups are allowed to “apply for a special religious license to cultivate the plant in their private residence, use the plant for religious purposes in their private residence or in their approved place of worship, and transport the plant between private residence and recognized place of worship. “

However, the special license does not provide for marketing or legal sales.

“Some Rastafarians also said the government violated their constitutional right to religious freedom by banning the legal use of marijuana in ceremonial rituals,” the report said. “Rastafarians said the police continued to arrest them for holding small amounts of marijuana that was used in ceremonial rituals.”

Members of this group said the law enforcement officers “have been disrespectful and intimidated” while in detention.

But a change could come as Prime Minister Hubert Minnis supports a policy change that will “allow Rastafarians and other religious groups that use cannabis for sacramental purposes to own, cultivate and use it for that reason”.

The prime minister said starting this year, people with previous convictions for marijuana possession could clear their records. However, this would require legislative action.

Meanwhile, the State Department notes that the Bahamas Christian Council is opposed to legalization, citing the group as saying that it “sees no social or national benefit for reform”.

This is another nation that is seeing steps to reform cannabis laws.

The government announced its intention to decriminalize marijuana last year, which would be a welcome reform for the Rastafarian community, the report said. Still, members of that group said they “hoped that further action would allow them to grow marijuana on their farms for both personal and commercial use”.

“Based on media reports, there appeared to be minimal opposition from mainstream religious organizations to the government’s decision to decriminalize marijuana,” the department said.

Rastafarians with whom the State Department spoke stated that “the commercial and medicinal benefits of growing marijuana were well founded and the community was optimistic about further liberalization”.

This nation has seen cannabis reforms that some consider to be insufficient.

Last year the government decriminalized adult possession of up to 28 grams of marijuana for personal religious use.

“Rastafarians continued to press the government for full legalization of marijuana use, saying they viewed decriminalization as a commercial half-measure,” the report said. “Representatives of the Rastafarian community said the authorities failed to enforce the law against the use of marijuana when the community used it in their religious rites.”

The report briefly notes that the evangelical community has discussed the possibility of legalizing cannabis in discussions with Rastafarian leaders.

Rastafarians “continued to cite a law criminalizing possession of 15 grams or more of marijuana in violation of their religious practices,” and late last year the government cabinet approved a decision to amend the law to remove the imprisonment for small children Amounts of cannabis.

“Rastafarians continued to report broader social acceptance, despite persistent negative stereotypes and stigma associated with wearing locomotives and smoking marijuana,” the report said, adding that the 75th birthday of the deceased cannabis operator Icon Bob Marley “a Rastafarian lawyer whose music and rhetoric helped popularize the religion in the 1970s.”

Even so, the Jamaican Defense Force generally does not accept Rastafarians, with “strict codes of conduct regarding hair length and the prohibition of marijuana use among its members.” [being] Obstacles to Rastafarian participation in the force. “

The report said: “Rastafarians have continued to object to laws making the use and possession of cannabis a criminal offense in the country, stating that its use is part of their religious doctrine.”

This is another country where recent legal changes regarding cannabis are helping to address aspects of discrimination against certain believers.

St. Kitts and Nevis lawmakers passed a bill last year providing a medical cannabis program for the Rastafarian community. “

“The law allows marijuana to be used privately, including for religious activities,” the report said. “Under the law, the newly created Medicinal Cannabis Authority is solely responsible for issuing cultivation licenses to island residents to grow cannabis for use in private homes and registered places of worship.”

The report said officials from the Rastafarian community said “the continued enforcement of marijuana laws by the government has discouraged Rastafarians from using marijuana for religious purposes,” and that police enforce marijuana laws, including Raids on marijuana plantations intensified during COVID-19 embargo.

But Rastafarians say they had “constructive dialogue” with community leaders and local governments, and the “main problem was encouraging the government to legalize marijuana for religious purposes”.

A government commission was set up to make recommendations on possible cannabis reforms. Rastafarians said, “They waited for the report to be released and were encouraged by the general trend towards decriminalization and legalization of marijuana in the Caribbean.”

“They said this trend could ultimately lead to legal reforms that would allow Rastafarians to legally use marijuana for religious purposes,” the State Department notes.

“Marijuana is allowed for medical purposes and scientific research,” the report said. “According to government statements, the use of marijuana is also allowed in religious sacraments, but this policy is not enshrined in law.”

The State Department also noted that “officials continue to support the use of cannabis by Rastafarians and all other religious groups for sacramental purposes”.

Legislators are considering broader marijuana reform legislation, with government officials telling US officials that Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves believes “Rastafarians and all other religious groups should be allowed to use cannabis for sacramental purposes.”

“The government continued to enforce a law banning the manufacture, sale and use of marijuana, which Rastafarians say violates their freedom to access cannabis,” the report said. The use of marijuana is “a central part of their religious practices”.

Possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis is legal, but public consumption remains prohibited, the report said.

“The law also provides a pathway for overturning previous marijuana convictions, including those who use marijuana for religious rituals, and allows individuals to cultivate plants for personal use,” it continues.

United States

The State Department report once again fails to address domestic cannabis policy or its discriminatory effects on marijuana users, even though U.S. courts have consistently rejected cases arguing that religious exceptions should be made to the country’s cannabis criminalization laws leading to hundreds of thousands of arrests each year.

Congressional federal marijuana legalization bill submitted by Republican lawmakers

Photo courtesy Mike Latimer.

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