Decriminalize it? The people weigh in

Last week Monday the nation was hit with a press release from the Government of Belize's Ministry of National Security stating that it had authorized a committee to look into the decriminalization of marijuana. Chairman of the committee and former Minister of Police, Dough Sing, the spokesman of the decriminalization committee told the media that the committee had been organized some time ago and had sent letters to several organizations requesting feedback on the proposal. The invitation to have the public participate may have been triggered by comments made in the house by Said Musa, former leader of the Position, Prime Minister and area rep for the Fort George division.

Hon. Said Musa, Former Prime Minister, PUP
We all know that we have a Police Department that spends its time going after little people with a stick of weed, spending resources and all that, when in fact why are they not concentrating their efforts in going after the big drug guns who facilitate this drug trade and corrupt the entire system? Surely the time has come to decriminalize that small quantity of marijuana. Why don't you do it? Why go after the little people.

The prime Minister's wrap-up during the second day of the debate spoke directly to musa's comments earlier in the debate. From his comments, it appears he is aware of marijuana's effects . Here are those comments.

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
What was most instructive was his formula for solving the crime and violence problem in Belize - legalize marijuana - that is what the ex Prime Minister came up with as his sole policy prescription for solving crime and violence. I don't know about anyone else, but it made me wonder if that is so he can do in the open, what perhaps he well has been doing in secret all these years. If I am right Mr. Speaker, it would explain the bizarre behavior that is so much a part of his history - the utter lack of any political or personal compass, the signing of the Telemedia accommodation agreement and the UHS guarantee, the Belize Bank loan notes and settlement deeds and the illegal income tax exemption to every profit extracting foreign millionaire manager of the Ashcroft alliance.

What followed Monday's press release was a media blitz by Chairman Dough Singh who confirmed among other things that the 8 man committee includes 2 weed smokers. According to Singh, the committee is considering decriminalizing around 10grams of marijuana; this amounts to some 10 joints or "roach" as it Is called in the streets. He encouraged Citizens to make comments to the committee via an email address decriminalizebelize@hotmail.com. PlusTV encouraged its viewers to copy their comments to shamax@btl.net so that we could get a firsthand pulse of what Belizeans are telling the Decriminalization Committee. The response was quite overwhelming; some 115 persons copied their comments to PlusTV. Of the total we received, 94 are against Criminalization, with 11 of them requesting more time for education. Of the Total, 15 requested more time without giving their opinion on decriminalization, while only 5 of our respondents said they favored criminalization.

Here is a sample of what some of them are saying:

Delvorine an educator with a Masters in Education says "Students will use marijuana more freely, behavioral problems will increase and learning ability will be highly affected."

SAMUEL who is a LAWYER, argued that "If it is the view of the Belize Government that the abuse of cannabis is detrimental to society (which I believe it is) then I am convinced that the criminal law is the best method of communicating this to the public at large and particularly to young people. If there is no threat of sanction then society effectively is being told that there is nothing wrong with doing it."

"Don't make this error." Says FATHER MARK, a priest! "The take home message would be: marijuana use is okay, healthy and harmless. For the vast majority of users and cases those three things are far far from true."

Former Mayor of Belmopan,Tony Chanona says "Rather than 'legalize/decriminalize' the possession and use of marijuana we should review this law so that the administration of justice by our courts can allow for a judge or magistrate to employ discretionary powers (just as the laws of Belize allow Ministers to do) so that the 'marginalized and the indigent' are not swept into prison without due process and consideration."

One of the 5 who agreed with Decriminalization of marijuana, Ozaeta says.. "Indeed, punitive measures designed to merely punish rather than to help someone seem to be founded on negativity. , the decriminalization of a hazardous and illicit drug such as marijuana can be considered a step in the right direction."

Several people submitted their own direct and indirect experiences because of marijuana. One Person spoke about weed being sold at a field day at her kids's school, while another spoke about a neighborhood shootout in San Perdo, Ambergris Caye, over marijuana turf. Noteworthy, is that the RAND Corporation out of the United States states that increased availability of marijuana leads to drastic reduction in price. Reduction in price is the KEY indicator to increased access by youth. For Every 10% decrease in price, there is an increased addiction in youths between 3-5%... Increased access by the youth (such as Standard 6) has produced greater Addiction of marijuana and hence greater exposure to other drugs.

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