FORMER Agriculture Minister, Moses ‘Musa’ Jn Baptiste, has expressed the view that the Caribbean should approach the issue of decriminalising marijuana in a united way.
‘It is something that we have spoken about even when we were in government. I was minister of agriculture and that question came up many times,’ Jn Baptiste recalled.
‘We were always of the view that the Caribbean should approach this in a united way, because if you have de-criminalization in various countries and not in others, especially in an OECS economic union, you can envisage the challenges,’ the former minister told reporters Thursday.
He asserted that the decriminalization process and the decriminalization movement in the region are moving in a ‘particular direction.’
‘I am sure that all governments in the sub-region will quickly realize that instead of everybody doing it on their own, that we should move on this,’ Jn Baptiste declared.
He expressed the hope that there would be widespread consultation.
‘The whole society has to sit down and talk about this. But certainly, this is moving in a particular direction and we see what is happening in the United States. We see what is happening in certain states in the United States and we just noticed what has happened in Antigua and definitely I am sure all governments and people in the region, especially the OECS economic union, will be taking this seriously,’ Jn Baptiste stated.