from a friend....

Dear Mr. Singh,

Thank you for the opportunity to voice our views to the Committee considering the decriminalisation of marijuana in Belize.

I am a permanent resident of Belize, a registered voter through Commonwealth membership and a property owner. I hope to become a citizen soon. I love Belize and care tremendously about its future. I understand that the use of marijuana is a controversial issue. Many believe it is a gateway to harder drugs that may be more harmful, some are concerned about its availability to children, while others are opposed on the basis of moral or health grounds. All of these are important and should be weighed carefully as I know, the esteemed members of the Committee will be doing.

My views are as follows. There is no doubt that the recreational use of any substance, whether that substance be alcohol, tobacco, prescription medicine, marijuana or other illegal drugs has the potential to be harmful. We also must accept that the addiction and associated abuse issues have a detrimental effect on society as a whole. Reflecting on attempts at prohibition and their apparent lack of success and, more recently, upon the 'war on drugs' and it's abysmal failure, it is imperative that we accept that criminalising drug users is neither effective nor beneficial.

People will use alcohol and drugs, no matter how severe the penalty for doing so. One only has to look at some of the conservative Muslim nations, where there are heavy penalties for drug and alcohol use to see that they are ineffective. Therefore, the criminalisation of a very popular recreational drug, especially one that is culturally important to some, is a fruitless measure.

I do question the logic of decriminalisation as opposed to legalisation for the following reasons:
1. Marijuana users will still be forced to obtain drugs from drug dealers, who will be criminals. This means that they will be associating with criminals and therefore more vulnerable to becoming involved in further criminal activity or exposed to harder, more dangerous drugs.
2. It will still be something that is a 'hidden' activity, denying those that need help in regards to abuse easy and ready access to care and treatment.
3. It will be impossible to enforce the way in which marijiuana is sold, continuing to place children at risk. When a substance is legal, control, monitoring and enforcement of distribution reduces this risk dramatically.
4. The profits will continue to remain in the hands of drug dealers and criminals, funding further criminal activity.
5. The government will see no real benefit except for more room in their jails. A country struggling financially, such as Belize, should be taking a radical approach to collecting taxes on marijuana sales and cultivation under government control. This would create jobs and could become a very profitable industry.
6. The opportunity for marijuana tourism, while distasteful to some, is no more (probably less) problematic than alcohol. Stoned tourists are likely to be a lot less problematic than drunk ones and it is likely that there would be an influx of new tourists coming to enjoy our beautiful country, while being able to participate in what, we all must admit, is an age old practice.
7. Finally, many use marijuana for medical reasons and there is more and more evidence that this has a sound basis in science. Criminalising the sick, is preposterous.


Again, I thank you for the opportunity to present my own views on this issue and very much look forward to the outcome of the Committee's findings.

Warm regards,