The manufacture, possession, and consumption of cannabis in Trinidad and Tobago is decriminalized.
In September 2018, Prime MinisterKeith Rowley announced that he was in discussions with Attorney GeneralFaris Al-Rawi on reviewing the country's cannabis legislation with the possibility of his People's National Movement government potentially decriminalizing the manufacturing, possession, and consumption of cannabis.[1][2][3] In December 2019, the government passed a bill in Parliament to decriminalize the cultivation and possession of small quantities of cannabis. The bill was proclaimed as law on 23 December 2019 by PresidentPaula-Mae Weekes.
In 1915 Trinidad created the Ganja Ordinance, by which all cannabis sold on the island was gathered into bonded warehouses and distributed only to sellers who paid a license fee, similar to the system found in Bengal.[4] Cannabis was banned in the islands in 1925.[5]
Decriminalization
In 2018, the head of the Caribbean Collective for Justice has called for the nation to decriminalize cannabis.[6] In December 2018, Prime Minister Keith Rowley stated that cannabis would become decriminalized some time in June 2019.[7]
In November 2019, Attorney GeneralFaris Al-Rawi laid two bills in Parliament which decriminalize possession of less than Шаблон:Convert of marijuana, implement tiered penalties for possession of Шаблон:Convert, and allow cultivation of up to four plants per adult.[8][9] The decriminalization bill was passed by both houses of Parliament and will be proclaimed into law on 23 December 2019, while the Cannabis Control Authority Bill was sent to a joint select committee.[10]