Cannabis legislation passes 18-6, setting up constitutional face-off
Rena Lalgie, the Governor, has made it clear legalisation of cannabis for recreational use was not allowed under the UK’s international obligations
Saturday, March 26, 2022
It will be legal to grow and sell cannabis in Bermuda – if controversial legislation passed in the House of Assembly gets Royal Assent from the Governor. The Cannabis Licensing Act 2022 would create a regulated framework for growth and sale of the drug. A series of licences would be available through a licensing authority, which will allow people to not only possess more, but also to grow, harvest, sell, and export it. The Bill was introduced by Walter Roban, the minister for home affairs, who was standing in for Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General. Mr Roban, in a repeat of the speech that Ms Simmons delivered in the House a year ago, said that the illegality of cannabis was “an unjust colonial legacy” and evidence of “systemic racialised disparities” where Black people were criminalised by a White oligarchy.
