Tag: grenada

A majority of governments around the world have modernized their cannabis laws and regulations in recent years as they pertain to medical cannabis activity, to varying degrees. Some governments have comprehensively overhauled their medical cannabis public policies to permit robust commerce involving a wide array of products, while others have made more limited changes to permit hemp-derived product sales to patients experiencing a narrow set of qualifying conditions.

Adult-use cannabis policy modernization is rarer around the globe right now compared to medical cannabis reform, but momentum for recreational cannabis legalization is increasing with every passing year. Grenada, an island nation located in the Caribbean, is a country where lawmakers are pursuing adult-use cannabis reform.

“Agriculture Minister Lennox Andrews has confirmed that the proposed amendment to the Drug Act, which will decriminalise cannabis for recreational and religious use, will prohibit people under the age of 21 from being in possession and using cannabis.” reported <a href=”https://nowgrenada.com/2025/08/draft-bill-marijuana-use-and-possession-only-for-21-years-and-over/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><em>Now Grenada</em></a> in its recent local coverage.

“This is a fundamental difference to the bill that was laid in the House in 2021 by the previous New National Party (NNP) Administration. That bill was laid for first reading and did not receive Parliamentary approval because of the June 2022 General Elections. It allowed anyone over 18 to have 28 grams or 0.987671 ounces of marijuana and allowed each homeowner over the age of 18 to grow no more than 5 trees.”

Cannabis is currently legal for adult use at a national level in Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa. Lawmakers in the Czech Republic approved a national recreational cannabis legalization measure earlier this year, with the law set to take effect on January 1st, 2026.

Uruguay became the first country to legalize cannabis for adult use at a national level back in 2013, and set the legal age to 18 years old. Canada set the federal age limit to 18 when it adopted national legalization in late 2018, although most individual jurisdictions in Canada have raised their local age limit to between 19-21 years old.

Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa have all set their legal age limits to 18 years old, and Czechia will have a legal age limit of 21 years old once its law takes effect.

Grenada may not be the first nation that you think of when contemplating cannabis policy modernization efforts, however, the Caribbean nation is expected to pass a cannabis decriminalization measure next year.

#GRENADA: The Government plans to approve in the first months of 2024 a law on the decriminalization of marijuana to promote its therapeutic use, an official document stated today. pic.twitter.com/dhlL6bjs3Z

— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) December 5, 2023

While the measure is being described domestically as ‘decriminalization,’ perhaps a more proper way to describe the measure is that Grenada is seeking to legalize the production of limited forms of medical cannabis products, in addition to decriminalizing personal possession and cultivation in some cases. Per Telesure English:

According to official reports, with this initiative, the Caribbean country seeks to diversify its economic base and create new engines to drive growth.

This should result in the elaboration and commercialization of products made with cannabis (as it is also known), but also allow the possession of only five plants or 24 grams, especially for members of the Rastafarian movement.

In many countries around the world, governments have launched robust medical cannabis programs that permit most or all forms of cannabis to be produced and sold via various means such as through dispensaries and/or pharmacies.

What is being proposed in Grenada on the medical side appears to be the legalization of pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis products involving isolated cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol. If that is the case, there are many nations around the world already doing that.

The personal possession and cultivation provisions, if implemented, would be more significant from a public policy standpoint. The cultivation of five plants and the permitted possession of 24 grams is more than what is currently in place in Luxembourg where adults are permitted to cultivate up to four plants and possess up to three grams.