By Staff Writer
ROSEAU, Dominica, Oct 13, CMC -A consultant psychiatrist at the Acute Psychiatric Unit, Dr. Nadia Wallace, wants Dominica and other Caribbean Islands to take a page out of Trinidad and Tobago, which recently passed legislation to increase the legal ages for the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, as well as participation in gambling.
“Recently, we heard in the news that Trinidad has moved to increasing the age at which, you know, persons are allowed to smoke and drink. I think this is something that Dominica and even the other countries in the region should look into doing,” she said.
Last week, the Trinidad and Tobago parliament gave the green light to the Miscellaneous Provisions (Alcohol, Cannabis, Dangerous Drugs, Gambling and Tobacco) Bill, 2026. Among its major provisions, the Bill raises the minimum legal age for the purchase and consumption of alcohol and tobacco from 18 to 21.
It also increases the age relating to the sale, purchase, possession and consumption of cannabis to 25, while people under the age of 25 will be prohibited from gambling.
The legislation also prohibits membership in registered clubs by people under 25, except where the club is primarily devoted to an athletic purpose, and bars people under 25 from gambling on club premises.
The Bill provides for significant penalties for breaches of the new restrictions, including fines of up to TT$50,000 (One TT dollar = US$ 0.16) for certain offences.
The consultant psychiatrist said that increasing the legal age for smoking and drinking is commendable “because it’s not just marijuana.
“Alcohol also has a psychoactive component, and it can also lead to, contribute to persons having psychosis. So I believe we should really seriously focus on, you know, taking a page from what Trinidad and Tobago is doing and see if we could increase the legal age for the use of marijuana.”
Wallace said that she knows the legal age for alcohol is 18, adding, “ I’m not sure if we have one for Dominica, but if we could move in that direction and increase it to at least 23 to 25, that’s when the brain would have enough time to develop.
“And when… persons smoke marijuana, because the brain is more developed, it will be less vulnerable to the effects of the THC (the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis). I think we really need to look in that direction,” she added.
CMC/gr/ir/2026
