Expand Grenada: ganja word, culture, three penalty tables, three articles

Parliament passed the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Act in January 2026 with support from both sides, and the Governor-General assented to it in February.[@vino](/history/grenada-decriminalisation-2026/) Adults aged 21 and over may possess up to 56 g of cannabis and 15 g of resin.[@act] Larger amounts remain an offence.

No legal source besides home growing, and no legal products on sale. The government describes this as phase one; a regulatory framework for commercial cultivation and sale is being drafted as phase two. An earlier 2021 bill — 28 g, five plants, worship use — lapsed when Parliament was dissolved before the June 2022 election.(/history/grenada-bill-2021/)

Since February 2026 adults aged 21 and over may possess up to 56 g of cannabis and 15 g of resin, and each household may grow four plants after registering with the Cannabis Secretariat.[@vino,act,moa](/history/grenada-decriminalisation-2026/) Rastafari places of worship have their own growing allowance, but there are no shops and supply stays criminal.[@vino,wiki] Smoking near schools can bring up to twenty years.[@act]

No legal products on sale.

vino

Big Drum Nation — BDM Interview with Wilbur Adams (May 2010, archived PDF) 12 unchanged

word ganja · lang English (Grenada) · meaning Brought by the first Indian indentured workers in 1857, who called it ganja and prepared bhang to relax after plantation work · sources bigdrum, wiki

treatment legal · term Adult possession (21+) · upto 56 g · note Cannabis; 15 g resin limit alongside, label Over the limits · treatment criminal · term Ordinary possession offence · note Larger amounts remain an offence; figures not stated in the retained sources

treatment legal · term Registered household growing · upto 4 plants · note Per household, registered with the Cannabis Secretariat before planting; each household on a property counts separately, label Sacramental growing · treatment legal · term Rastafari worship allowance · note Places of worship have their own growing allowance

XCD

label Public smoking (ticket) · treatment civil · term EC$300 optional notice · fine 300 · note Optional notice instead of prosecution, label Public smoking (court) · treatment criminal · term EC$5,000 summary fine · fine 5000 · note Ordinary summary conviction, label School-area smoking · treatment criminal · term Up to 20 years and/or EC$500,000 · prison 20 years · fine 500000 · note Summary 7 years and/or EC$250,000; indictment 20 years and/or EC$500,000; dwellings excepted

[Ganja](/culture/language/ganja/) came with the first Indian indentured workers on 1 May 1857, who called it ganja and prepared bhang to relax after plantation work.[@bigdrum,wiki](/history/grenada-indian-ganja-introduction-1857/) A century and a half later the plant's law turned: adults may possess it and households may grow it under the 2026 Act.(/history/grenada-decriminalisation-2026/)

bigdrum, wiki

Grenada was, in its attorney general's words, "one of the last jurisdictions" in the region to act. When it did, it allowed more than most of its neighbours and stopped at the same point: no shops. ## A second attempt A first bill, tabled in [2021](/history/grenada-bill-2021/), died with the dissolution of Parliament. The party that won the 2022 election had promised reform, and the new prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, put it in terms of police time: "We don't want to keep on wasting state resources arresting people for a spliff." The bill passed the House on 20 January 2026 with support from both sides, and the Senate on 3 From February. It was published as Act No. 1 of 2026 on 20 February. The one open argument was the age: Mitchell preferred 18, found himself "in the minority", and the Act settled onadults aged 21. ## What the Act allows - **Possession:** up to and over may possess 56 g of cannabis or 15 g of resin is no longer an offence. Dealing is presumed from 71 g. - **Growing:**, and four plants or fewer at a household, each household counted separately, are outside the growing offence; specified old convictions are cleared and sale remains an offence.[@2] The agriculture ministry says a grower registers with the Cannabis Secretariat and the ministrygrowers register before planting, and that thewith registration rules for signing up wouldto follow.[@3] Parliament passed the bill with support from both sides.[@1] The Cannabis Commission told people to ignore private groups that chargesame Act creates a fee to sign growers up. - **Under 21:** no arrestseparate offence for smoking on school premises, charge or record. Children are referred to child protection and those aged 18 to 20 to counselling; the cannabis is forfeited. - **In in public:** smoking near the entrance of a public place brings a fixed penalty of 300 East Caribbean dollars and no record. Within/open areas within 100 yards of aduring school it is a crime withhours, carrying up to seven years on summary conviction. - **Rastafari:** sacramental use is exempt, and adherents cannot be prosecuted over cannabis in a registered place of worship, once the minister makes the rules. - **Old convictions:** those for amounts now legal are expunged, on applicationsummarily or twenty years on the board's own motion indictment, and pending cases are discontinued. ## What it leaves out Nobody may sell. The Act exempts licensed medical and scientific supply, but the law that would issue licences does not exist yet; ministers called itwith a second phase. Until then the only lawful source is one's own plants. | Country | Since | Possession | Plants per household | |private---|---|---|---| | dwelling exception.[Antigua and Barbuda](/country/ag/) | 2018 | 15 g | 4 | | [Trinidad and Tobago](/country/tt/) | 2019 | 30 g | 4 | | [Dominica](/country/dm/) | 2020 | 28 g | 3 | | [Saint Lucia](/country/lc/) | 2021 | 30 g | 4 | | [Grenada](/country/gd/) | 2026 | 56 g | 4 | In the index, possession rose from 1 to 5, growing from 1 to 4, enforcement from @2 to 6 and consumption from 1 to 3. Sharing and access did not move. A grower is told to register first, and the ministry's March notice said the rules for that registration would follow. ]

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NOW Grenada — Draft Bill and Policy Statement for the Decriminalisation of Cannabis in Grenada (14 January 2026) NOW Grenada — Government to table Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Amendment Bill (30 June 2025) NOW Grenada — Marijuana decriminalisation legislation to go before Parliament no later than June 2025 (26 February 2025) Cannabis Commission — Public advisory on unauthorised cannabis cultivation registration (27 February 2026) 3 unchanged