Ministers weigh Culture Ministry role in sacramental cannabis oversight

Jamaica’s Government has stepped up talks on how the country manages cannabis used for worship, known in law as the sacramental cannabis framework.

Officials say the exercise is meant to tighten how the system is run, protect genuine religious entitlements, and keep the licensed commercial cannabis sector intact.

At a recent senior ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, participants considered several options. One was moving day-to-day operational control and administration of the religious cannabis framework to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

That idea is under review because the framework is closely tied to the island’s faith traditions and cultural identity.

Delano Seiveright, Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, linked the exercise to wider work on clearer policy and better alignment among the agencies that oversee the framework.

“The Government remains committed to protecting legitimate religious rights, while ensuring that the framework is properly governed, clearly understood and not exploited for activities outside of the law,” he said.

The session grew out of advice from the Cannabis Industry Development Taskforce, which Seiveright chairs. That body flagged the need for sharper policy direction and tighter cooperation in running the religious cannabis regime.

According to the state minister, the review is also a chance to keep the arrangements even-handed. Talks covered how religious bodies are recognised, supervision structures, caps on growing and holding cannabis, transport rules, which lands and worship sites may be used for cultivation, enforcement methods, and how to keep lawful religious use distinct from Jamaica’s commercial cannabis market.

“We must continue to uphold the protections provided under the Dangerous Drugs Act while addressing operational challenges, strengthening compliance and ensuring that legitimate religious use is clearly distinguished from commercial cannabis activities,” Seiveright said.

Those present also looked at how the Dangerous Drugs (Designation of Land for Cultivation of Ganja for Sacramental Purposes) (Amendment) Order, 2023 is working in practice. That order lets recognised Rastafarian groups and named persons grow ganja for sincere religious use on approved land, under set conditions and regulatory watch.

Also present were Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Delroy Chuck; Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange; Minister of State in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce Sancia Bennett Templer; and senior officials from those ministries.

Seiveright noted that “further consultations will continue as the Government works to modernise the governance of Jamaica’s religious cannabis framework while protecting religious observance, strengthening regulatory certainty and maintaining public confidence in the country’s cannabis regime”.

— JIS