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Christians in Antigua and Barbuda have expressed concerns about the disrespect of sacred spaces due to the smoking of marijuana. The Antigua Barbuda Evangelical Alliance (ABEA) has raised the issue with the country’s prime minister, Gaston Browne.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent decriminalization of marijuana, ABEA is troubled by public marijuana smoking, particularly in places and during events considered sacred to the Christian faith. Of particular concern is the smoking of marijuana in and around church buildings and cemeteries during funerals.<\/p>\n
To address this, ABEA has urged the government to conduct an educational program to inform the public that marijuana use in public places remains illegal.\u00a0 They emphasized the need to discourage public cannabis consumption, especially due to the negative message it sends to the younger members of society.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Browne acknowledged the issue and emphasized that the decriminalization of marijuana is not an endorsement for public consumption. He expressed support for public service announcements through local media to reinforce the message that smoking cannabis publicly is prohibited.<\/p>\n
Browne also highlighted his support for the decriminalization of marijuana, specifically to grant followers of the Rastafari religion sacramental rights to use cannabis within religious rites. Additionally, the government intends to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes due to its significant medicinal benefits.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Prime Minister Browne underscored the importance of respecting church sanctuaries and abiding by legal limits, on a publicly-broadcasted radio show. He emphasized the need for individuals to respect each other’s ethical values and reminded the public that smoking cannabis is banned in public but allowed in private homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christians in Antigua and Barbuda have expressed concerns about the disrespect of sacred spaces due to the smoking of marijuana. The Antigua Barbuda Evangelical Alliance (ABEA) has raised the issue with the country’s prime minister, Gaston Browne. Despite the recent…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":324354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,286,235,9,14,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-governance","category-homepage-carousel","category-news","category-regional","category-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n