Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says his administration will discuss the issue of medical marijuana in the coming year.

Skerrit who was a guest on a local radio programme on Wednesday said the topic must be discussed in a focused and informed manner, in order to take full advantage of the use of the herb, which many have sworn has saved their lives.

“We have started the conversation. I think we maybe need to put a better structure in place where we can have a more structured, informed dialogue or discussion on medical marijuana, to see how we can take advantage of this.

The country with the biggest weed habit? That might surprise you.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

The St Lucia government says it is planning a series of town hall meetings to discuss the decriminalisation of marijuana.

National Security Minister Hermangild Francis said it is important for the discussion to take place, and to explore the properties and use of hemp.

The discussions will be held in the 17 constituencies on the island and Francis, a former acting police commissioner, said he had met with various stakeholders including medical practitioners  Dr Marcus Day, Dr Stephen King, and Paul Francis from the Iyanola Advancement of Rastafarian and Nyabinghi Tabernacle.

Organizers of a ganja forum to prepare a policy paper on reform of local marijuana laws, described today’s turnout as disappointing.

“I thought that more people would come but a few of them told me that they would be coming in the afternoon because some could not come in the morning,” Andre ‘Pancho’ Decaires of the Cannabis Movement told the Times during a break in the morning session of the event.

He explained that other people had to work and would drop in later.

Decaires said however that organizers were happy that three school principals were among those in attendance, along with a high ranking representative from the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force and a representative from the churches.

Protestors, including members of the Rastafarian community, are stepping up calls for the decriminalization of weed.

Cannabis activists in Saint Lucia want the government to decriminalize the drug.

There is a growing movement for cannabis legalization in the Caribbean, and over the weekend proponents of the drug took to the streets and demanded their government modernize its approach to drug policy by recognizing the medicinal and religious value of marijuana.

Organizers of the Cannabis March in the southern town of Soufriere say there has been far too much talk and no action on the issue.

Marijuana legalization has been a political issue in the United States for some time, and while it remains illegal in most states, others have softened their stance in recent years. Colorado and Washington both passed initiatives by popular vote to decriminalize and legalize cannabis in 2012. In 2014, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., followed suit. Many states including Massachusetts, California, Missouri, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Ohio have flirted with legalization for a few election cycles, with buzz growing.

The United States isn't the only country where people use marijuana legally or illicitly. In fact, it isn’t even the country with the highest reported marijuana use.

SAN JUAN – Marijuana is the most-used drug among convicted and accused criminals in seven Caribbean countries, according to a new study from Jamaica’s National Council on Drug Abuse.

“The highest proportion was reported in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the lowest proportion was in St. Kitts and Nevis, while Jamaica reported approximately 75 percent of inmates used marijuana,” NCDA Research Analyst Uki Atkinson said in a statement.

Conducted in 2014, the NCDA survey sought to explore the relationship between drugs and crime in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis.

A CHARD man who was found with thousands of pounds worth of cannabis lying around his home and claimed he used liberal amounts in his daily life has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Rastafarian Molly Alcindor said he had been using the drug since the age of 9 and its use for health reasons, for cooking and making tea, as well as recreational smoking was entrenched in his home culture in St Lucia.

Once the numerous quantities of the drug were recovered by police they were analysed and found to be a total of more than 1.7kg with an estimated street value in the region of £17,000.

The Cannabis Movement in Saint Lucia is urging the government to follow the footsteps of Jamaica and decriminalize marijuana. Members say it would pave the way for a legal marijuana industry.

Andre de Caires, the head of the Cannabis Movement, has been a champion of marijuana tourism and decriminalization. He says Jamaica is heading down the right path by approving a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis and believes Saint Lucia should do the same.