Rastafarians march in unity to “free up the weed”

Georgetown: Scores smoked Marijuana joints in front of the police and chanted songs as they marched from Buxton, East Coast Demerara to the Square of the Revolution in Georgetown calling on the Government to legalize and liberate “the weed”.

Although police would routinely arrested and charged for small possession of marijuana, no one was charged or arrested on Monday.

“The last elections, they claimed that they won by one seat and that came from South Georgetown and Linden. Who lives in South Georgetown and Linden? Rastafaris and a lot of people who burn marijuana. Five thousand votes give you one seat, we have more than 5000 votes in the organisation and if this Government doesn’t talk to us properly, we will talk to the people ourselves,” Ras Leon Saul, one of the organisers of the march said.

Ras Saul said he and other leaders are prepared to mobilise the Rastafarian community to abstain from voting for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration if they continue to put this issue on the back-burner.

Ras Saul added: “we have the swing vote, we have the balance of power and this Government needs to wake up … and stop putting us in jail for a piece of herb.”

Men, women and children participated in the march; some walked, some travelled in motored vehicles and some on donkey-carts, banging drums, waving placards, and smoking weed all the while chanting for marijuana to be legalised or decriminalised.