Suriname to introduce pardon for illegal migrants

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – Suriname is to introduce a general pardon for people living in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country as well as provide a grace period for those residing here illegally to fix their papers. The government had initially intended to grant the pardo...
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Ruling party to focus on economic growth and national development

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has assured supporters of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) that her administration is working towards economic growth and national development, with job creation the target. Simpson Miller, who is also PNP President told hu...
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Caribbean lagging in wireless broadband use — UN report

UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — With nearly two out of every five people in the world expected to be online by the end of the year, more than two-thirds of those living in developing countries, including the Caribbean, will not have access to the Internet, says the United Nations in a global survey of ...
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High time indeed to review marijuana policies

KINGSTON, Jamaica - On September 17, the Bureau of the Heads of Government of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) discussed the decriminalisation of marijuana and its production for medicinal purposes. The discussion was prompted by the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ra...
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Policing marijuana—the UK experience

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Countries all over the world take different approaches to the policing of marijuana possession and consumption. In many places it is widely assumed that the drug is legal, whereas in fact it is technically illegal, but tolerated in specific circumstances, such as a decision...
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Marijuana a gateway drug? Jury still out

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Sometimes I feel like I have spent my life in court with teenage boys charged for possession of marijuana. I’m sure that’s part of the reason why I support Chief Justice Ivor Archie’s idea of decriminalising marijuana. I can personally testify that being c...
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Legalising marijuana would be wrong

KINGSTON, Jamaica - An edited portion of Government MP Dr Dayton Campbell's contribution to the debate in Parliament on the motion to legalise marijuana. A third of Jamaicans have used ganja in any form and 30 per cent of Jamaicans have smoked marijuana with males reporting this three times mor...
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The great ganja debate continues

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - IT IS NOT a new issue but one which we can no longer let dangle. From Kingston to Kingstown to Washington and Bridgetown, there is clearly momentum in the discussion on whether to decriminalize marijuana and what impact this will have on fighting illegal drugs in our region. I...
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Government to build plant to deal with environmental waste

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados government it intends to construct a plant that will convert waste, including those generated from visiting ships into energy. “In the area of environmental protection, Barbados has already taking the lead with respect to our aggressive attempt t...
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A campaign worth waging

Kingston, Jamaica - The charismatic and visionary St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is working hard to put the issue of reparations for slavery on the map. Last week's first ever Regional Reparation Conference is an important initial step. Nobody pretends that the campaign to obtain rep...
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