The story · written by muse-spark,
Saint Lucia first controlled cannabis in 1926. Ordinance No. 16 of that year, passed by the Legislative Council on 14 October and assented by the Acting Governor on 26 October, was made “to consolidate and amend the law relating to Opium and other Dangerous Drugs” — and it repealed the opium-only Ordinance of the 1916 revision and its 1922 amendment, extending control beyond opium for the first time.[1]
The plant, the resin, the tops
The ordinance defines “indian hemp” as the dried flowering or fruiting tops of the pistillate plant Cannabis sativa L. from which the resin has not been extracted, under whatever commercial name they travel.[1] Resin gets its own mention where it matters: the import ban covers “Indian hemp or the resin obtained from indian hemp or from the growing plant”, and section 5 punishes dealing in or possessing any of the listed substances.[1]
Cultivation, trade, and Part III
Section 3 strikes at the root: nobody may cultivate in the colony, possess, or sell the whole or any part of any plant mentioned in the definitions from which raw opium, coca leaf or Indian hemp is obtained.[1] Section 4 closes the borders to hemp and its resin, and section 5 criminalises manufacturing, selling, dealing, and possession, with occupiers who let premises be used for preparation or smoking-related purposes caught alongside.[1] Galenical preparations — the extract and tincture of Indian hemp — fall under the stricter Part III regime for medicinal opium, morphine, cocaine and their preparations.[1]
Twelve months and a constable’s warrant
The 1926 penalties are modest next to what followed: up to a two-hundred-pound fine or twelve months with or without hard labour on summary conviction, with forfeiture and court-ordered destruction in every case.[1] Enforcement runs on magistrates’ search warrants for suspect premises, with any constable empowered to arrest without warrant a suspect likely to abscond or whose name cannot be ascertained.[1] Twelve years on, the 1938 ordinance would keep the structure and multiply the punishment. The country page follows the law from this ordinance to decriminalisation.
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%10 → 1−9
- Personal cultivation · 25%10 → 2−8
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%10 → 3−7
- Sharing & gifting · 10%10 → 1−9
- Consumption · 10%10 → 1−9
- Legal access · 10%10 → 0−10
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. Saint Lucia's scores have changed again since.
References
- Saint Lucia — Ordinances 1926: No. 16 of 1926, Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (assented 26 October 1926)1926 · Preamble and assent (Acting Governor, 26 Oct 1926; passed Legislative Council 14 Oct 1926); s. 2 Indian hemp definition; ss. 3–5 bans; s. 7(f) galenicals under Part III; ss. 16–18 enforcement; s. 19 repeal of 1916/1922 opium laws; penalty clause (£200/12 months)
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.