Church Senator Refuses to Support Decriminalization of Marijuana
TODAY, the Senate met in Belmopan to consider some of the bills taken to the House last week Friday.
A number of important pieces of legislation were debated, but we start first with the debate over the 2017 Amendment Bill for the Misuse of Drugs Act.
That's the bill that was first tabled in August and which legally allows for recreational use of marijuana in quantities of 10 grams or less. Very much like the lower House, the Bill received bi-partisan support, but there were a wide range of views on marijuana decriminalization
We have excerpts of the debate, starting with Church Senator Ashley Rocke's refusal to support the amendment. Here's how that went:
Ashley Rocke - Senator for the Churches "We understand what you are trying to do, we understand what the law is trying to do but as it relates to the church and its position on the issues of drugs, we cannot support that change. We understand in principle what you are trying to do and what you are trying to accomplish but the question is was there other ways in which this could have been done rather than giving smokers the leeway to smoke, would it not have been better if those people or if the government could have found another way to deal with the drug issue."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator for Business Sector "I have heard where members of this government, Mr. President, have expressed that this bill is not intended to encourage marijuana use and I believe them and I give them the benefit of all the doubts and I do believe that they are sincere, Mr. Attorney General, in the expression of such. However, in many instances, when mixed with the vast amounts of research that has been conducted on the effects of drugs on brain development and the risk factors that lead to increased usage or as a cause of increased usage, I fear that many aspects of this bill does quite the opposite of what the drafters say."
Mike Peyrefitte - Government Senator "No proof has been provided to me in my extensive work done on this bill that demonstrates to me that marijuana is any more dangerous than the already legal drugs that I currently use. I drink rum. How is rum, alcohol, liquor, less dangerous than marijuana? We are encouraging mature people who smoke marijuana, which we believe has less of an effect on them than cigarettes and alcohol, to enjoy their marijuana responsibly. All I am saying is that you have people who don't want to smoke cigarettes, don't want to smoke cigars, don't want to drink alcohol, they prefer to smoke marijuana. Why is there such hatred for people who want that particular drug because they are all drugs."
Aldo Salazar - Senator "The point is that all of a sudden, when this law passes, now everybody is going to run out and start to get high and start to drive their bus and drive their forklift, students are going to start to smoke, go to school, insurance premiums are going to raise and that is really just a fallacious argument because it presupposes that a law like this which decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana will result in a dramatic increase of marijuana use without any evidence iota for that."
Osmany Salas - Senator "I would like to offer some advice to my fellow senators, in particular, senators for the government side. When we offer comments on this amendment bill I ask you to please don't get overly worked up or overly defensive. This bill will pass, this bill will pass. The two major parties have expressed their support for this bill, so it will pass. And in some respects, it is a very progressive bill."
Dr. Carla Barnett - Senator "Obviously I rise in support of this amendment. I am not a person who advocates in anyway the use of marijuana. As a matter of fact, I don't advocate the use of any drug except those prescribed by a medical practitioner that is supposed to help you get better. But I do recognize and I believe that we are in a situation in which we have taken a hard-line view on the use of marijuana, a view which does not necessarily coincide with any rational view."
Now, as you heard, the amendment to the law allows for persons to be in possession of not more than 10 grams of marijuana. You cannot take it with you onto the premises of a school, and you can only smoke it in the privacy of your own home, or on your own property.
Now, there is one last step before the law takes effect. The Governor General, directed by the Government, has to sign the law it into effect.
VIDEO: DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA DRAWS HEATED DEBATE AT SENATE MEETING
The proposed decriminalisation of marijuana legislation went before the Senate yesterday, attracting heavy discussion and debate. Lines were drawn by Senators based on scientific, religious and moral positions and it all made for interesting news. Here are some of the highlights and surprise declarations by some of the Senators. The bill did pass at the end of the debate and will now be sent to the Governor General for assent, marking the start of a new policy on the limited use of marijuana by the Government.
With the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act, an adult will now be able to possess and smoke up to 10 grams of marijuana in the privacy of his/her home and in someone's house or in a hotel room with the consent of the owner.
Although a politically popular move, these persons still cannot grow, buy, import or sell marijuana. So where are persons to get their 10 grams of weed to smoke at home? Where will the tourist get it to smoke it in the hotel room? This is illogical. Cannabis is still an illegal drug in Belize and still listed on the Schedule 1 and Schedule 4 list of drugs in the UN international conventions. Without a strict regulatory framework, we are being irresponsible and sloppy in how we are doing this.
The 2015 final report of the Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee (DOCM) in its conclusion recommended the decriminalization of the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana. If the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act had simply done just this, I would have supported it at last week's Senate meeting. In addition to no longer having criminal records, decriminalizing possession of this amount would save precious Police and Court time that should be better spent on major offences. Frankly, decriminalization of such possession should have been done a long time ago.
But this bill is doing much more than decriminalizing possession. Under the guise of decriminalization, the government has created a ganja and hemp industry. The DOCM did not in its recommendations suggest that amendments be made to legalize marijuana at this time for medical preparations, for industrial hemp or for limited recreational use. Enforcing these additional amendments as is, government is encouraging an illegal trade. How will this curb the killings that the Police Minister says occur on the Southside of Belize City because of the illegal sale/trade of marijuana?
Without these additional amendments, decriminalization of possession up to 10 grams could still occur. So why is government now rushing these other amendments with no regulations? The end result is that the process is ill-conceived and illogical.
Recreational Use If you can't grow, buy or sell marijuana, then it makes no sense to have a law that says you can smoke up to 10 grams in the privacy of a house or hotel. Where will you get it from legally?
Medical Marijuana The amendment now legalizes marijuana for medicinal preparations. However, if the patient can't grow it or buy it how is she/he to use it for medicinal purposes? How can the doctor prescribe a drug that cannot be sourced legally? What are the regulations for persons to use it medicinally and for medical practitioners to prescribe it? How will the state ensure that persons are indeed using it for medicinal purposes?
Industrial Hemp The hemp variety of cannabis will now be fully legal. The law refers to a TCH content that is yet to be prescribed. The law is silent on the authority that would license the farming, processing or supply of hemp.
Hemp and cannabis to the amateur eye are very similar. Without a licensing authority that monitors if it is really hemp that is being farmed, supplied, processed and sold, there will be great opportunity for misuse and exploitation of marijuana.
Hemp is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It is big business. Hemp is used in the manufacture of industrial and consumer textiles, building materials, foods, paper, personal hygiene products, animal feed among others.
Without a regulatory framework, who really benefits from commoditizing this strain of cannabis? Will it be that local farmers will be licensed to grow hemp? Will there be opportunities for everyday, regular Belizeans and small businesses to process or to sell it? Or will it be only for a few selected individuals and businesses with connections to government? Will the licensee for cultivation also be given a license to process or will this be restricted to avoid exploitation and misuse?
On the one hand, the penalties have been lessened for possession of one strain of cannabis for the regular Belizean but on the other hand (without proper regulation) a business opportunity is being created to farm, manufacture, process, and sell another strain of cannabis for profit. Is this going to be a level and responsible playing field?
A More Responsible Approach We could have proceeded with decriminalizing possession up to 10 grams first and monitored how this was working, providing periodic updates and improving on the amendment if needed.
In the interim we could have worked, in a real bipartisan manner, on the legislation and regulations for the other three amendment areas for a responsible pathway to legalization. This could have been done before presenting a half-baked legislation on legalization for recreational use, hemp and medicinal purposes. This would still have met the objective of decriminalizing possession.
Where Do We Go From Here? A decision to turn an illegal substance into a legal one, even if in a limited fashion, should not be a rushed decision for the politics of it. Despite this, the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act have passed. So what should be done now?
If we are serious about doing things in the interest of good governance and not just popular politics, there should be a bipartisan committee established posthaste to look at robust regulations. This should put some logic into these amendments and this should include the establishment of a Cannabis Licensing Authority to properly guide the development of the hemp industry and of ganja for recreational and medicinal use.
Doing this could provide for fair and equitable access to the new hemp business opportunities from these amendments and ensure oversight for permit applications for medical preparations and regulations for recreational use of marijuana. This would be a responsible way forward in an environment where transparency, accountability and compliance with the law is woefully lacking.
The marijuana bill was signed into law on Thursday by the Governor General.
When does the new law become affective and enforceable?
i.e On what date can one begin to possess/smoke 10gm or less of marijuana in their home, in the home of a friend (with their permission) or in their hotel room (I assume w/ permission from the hotel to smoke in the room) without fear of arrest &/or prosecution?
AG Signs Amendment to Misuse of Drugs Act, Possession of Small Amounts of Weed Is Legal
Tonight, if you're an adult in possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less, you are no longer committing a crime. That's because the Governor General signed the amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act into law yesterday.
The decriminalization amendment was passed by parliament last week, and on Tuesday, the National Evangelical Association of Belize came out swinging at the Government, asserting that this is a bad decision.
But, while the churches may criticize, the political parties gave it bi-partisan support, and so, the law is here, and unless or until Parliament decides to repeal it, marijuana possession in small quantities is legal.
This evening, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte outlined what marijuana smokers can and cannot do:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General "This week the National Assembly sent the papers to me for verification that all was in order. I signed off on it as attorney general and then it went to the Governor General telling the Governor General that everything is in order and I advised the Governor General to ascent and he so assented yesterday. So the document has been assented to and the law has been officially passed. It will go for a mass printing tomorrow at Print Belize and then from there it will go for distribution in the gazette, the next issue of the gazette, but the law is here. If you are an adult and you have in your possession 10 grams of marijuana or less, you are within the law and it's totally legal. You can be anywhere with those 10 grams or less except on school property."
"And so we are asking people - we pass the law to try and give people a break to say marijuana is your drug of choice, we are going to make a small portion of it legal, but like any other drug, please enjoy it responsibly and know that we want to keep it like any other legal drug away from children."
"You are not allowed to smoke it in public. So you have your 10 grams or less and you want to go home tonight and watch the game or do whatever you do at home, in your yard whatever, you are free to smoke your marijuana tonight and but like I said you cannot legislate parenting either, try not to consume any drug in the presence of your children, including cigarettes and alcohol."
Weed Not For Minors
So, as you heard, adults are allowed to be in possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less. You can smoke it in the privacy of your own home, or in your own yard. You are allowed to smoke it on someone else's premises, with the explicit permission of the owner of residence. If you do not have the permission of the homeowner, and you are caught smoking it, you can be charged. Also, you cannot take the drug with you unto the school compound. If you are caught, you will be warned and subsequent offenses will result in monetary fines.
And while the law relaxes the consequences of marijuana possession or consumption for adults, it's not the same thing for minors. The Attorney General was particularly forceful in making the point that minors caught in possession of the legal quantity of the drug, will be penalized. Here's how he explained the rationale behind that:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General "We are going to be very strict on minors. The government is not promoting the use of marijuana and especially we are not promoting it, we are not legalizing it at all. If you are a minor and you are in possession of marijuana, you will have to be detained. You have to be arrested. It's just that when you go to court, the court will say good, given this new piece of legislation you young man or young lady we are going to put you through a counseling program. In the coming weeks or days, the minister of police is going to set forth some regulations that would say what the appropriate counseling is, what is the appropriate guidance. Until then the juvenile court will use whatever measures they use currently to punish minors who have committed offences."
"If we notice that a minor is a repeat offender, he keeps getting caught with possession or smoking marijuana, then the minister will also make regulations as to how that person can go through some kind of drug treatment program or recovery program and we will bring the parents into this. We are saying if the government has to keep using resources, because you are not being a good parent and we keep having to counsel and treat your child for an addiction, we are going to have you foot the bill or some of the expenses for doing so, because you are to keep your children away from marijuana, from cigarettes, from alcohol, but we are making it extra stringent when it comes to the marijuana."
Peyrefitte to Churches: Put Up, Light Up, Or Shut Up
We also took the opportunity to ask the Attorney General about the harsh criticism from the National Evangelical Association of Belize. These pastors believed that GOB completely ignored their objections, and the opposition of others who think that decriminalization is a mistake.
Peyrefitte pulled no punches when he responded saying that this was not a unilateral decision, as NEAB is suggesting it to be:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General "Let me be very calm. I'll try to be very calm about the church the way I try very hard to be calm about the CCJ. Given what the church has been found guilty of in recent years - I think priests and pastors have no moral authority to try and judge anybody out here who wants to smoke marijuana. They just object for object sake."
Daniel Ortiz, reporter "They suggest in their press conference a few days ago that the government ignored their packet in where 200 plus pastors voiced their discontent. Is that true?"
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte "Daniel, let me stop you. They are pastors in their churches. They need to go preach in their churches. If you want to make legislation pastors, you put your name on a ballot, you run for office. If your party wins and you get into cabinet or you're the prime minister or a majority in the house, then you can pass whatever law you want to pass."
"You are a pastor, be a pastor. You want to be a law maker, then you come and you be a law maker. You offer yourself to the people. Of course we listen to what they said. We listen to what everybody had to say, but at the end of the day, as the law makers, the members of the house, the members of the senate had to then come up with what was best for everybody and for those who want to yelled and talk from the cheap seats, come down, put your name on a ballot, run for office and then you can pass the laws you want or repeal the law that we just passed. Until then just shut up."
AG Concedes Law Is Very Imperfect
But, while the Attorney General doesn't have much patience for the church's spin on how Government viewed their objection, the fact is that both sides share the concern that the law is imperfect.
It makes it legal to be in possession of small quantities of marijuana, but it does not address the purchase or sale of marijuana, and other activities like cultivation. So, basically, you can possess 10 grams, but you can't buy it, or grow it.
When we asked Peyrefitte about the mixed messages, he conceded that there are gaps. He explained the Government's position on those other activities which are still illegal:
Reporter "You have people who are growing, you have people who are retailing [marijuana] and those 2 acts are illegal in the eyes of the law."
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General "Well you see Isani, we will see how it will work when it gets into practice. I have never shy away from the fact that the position of cabinet is that we have a wet foot, dry foot policy. If for those of you not familiar with that, the Cubans leaves Cuba in a boat - if you make it to the shores of the United States you are home free. If United States Coast Guard catches you out at sea, then they send you back to Cuba. So if you make it there, there is no questions asked, but you have to make it there. You cannot grow it, you cannot distribute it. It's not for commercial sale or trade. I saw somebody on facebook saying I have the good marijuana now and its legal you can come and buy it. That's completely illegal. But we are saying if you happen to have your 10 grams or less and you have been shifty enough to get to that point, then you're home free. It's not a perfect piece of legislation, but we had to start somewhere."
"We want to do or take baby steps in this process. You could go for full legalization which has its own problems and issues or we could keep the law as it was before and that obviously had its own issues and problems. So what do we do? We had to chop this proverbial baby in half. It's not perfect, far from perfect, but what we are asking is for those people who do smoke, to do it responsibly."
Decriminalization and The Weed Wars
There is also that school of thought that the decriminalization of small quantities of marijuana will fuel the weed wars in the streets, which police say has been driving city homicides.
The Attorney General said he doesn't buy that:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General "With maximum respect to those who hold that position as some senior police officers hold that position. I think there is just a general sense of lawlessness in this country that's unacceptable at this point. You have people punching females' officers and people abusing other people like that. I will not buy hook line and sinker that it is a marijuana issue. Yes you can make the case that in the trade people would get from other dealers and the sell and then when they can't pay, then they run themselves into trouble. But that has nothing to do with marijuana itself. It has to do with anything. If you sell land and you don't pay who you need to pay, you run into trouble with people. Bad business practices, worthlessness, irresponsibility and downright thievery. We are living a type of lifestyle many of us that's dangerous and that's lawless and I don't think that it has to do with marijuana. Put it this way, marijuana as of a couple days ago was completely illegal and look at the violence we had in that short period of time before that. This is not going to make it worse. This is not going to bring a violence that wasn't already there. So I don't think that just the simple existence of marijuana or the legality of it or the pending legality of it a couple weeks ago was what made violence so high/ I think that we have become very, very violent."
Police legal adviser makes clarification about the legal possession of 10 grams of cannabis
Members of the public are no longer at risk of being charged or arrested if they are found with 10 grams or less of marijuana. They can now smoke marijuana in their homes or in other buildings where approval has been granted by the building owners.
However, according to the new law which decriminalizes possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana, it is still illegal to be found with cannabis in schools or other places of education. Senior Superintendent Bart Jones, legal adviser to the police, in an interview with us today, calls on policemen to be professionals: 10 grams, no charge.
Jones explained that if a person is stopped and searched and cannabis is found in his or her possession, and there is a doubt about the quantity, that person is to be taken to the nearest police station, where the cannabis will be weighed, and if it is 10 grams or less, the person is to be released, but if the cannabis weighs more than 10 grams, then the person will face charges for drug possession or drug trafficking, depending on the quantity.
Jones, in outlining how the law applies to possession of cannabis on a school compound, explained that if a parent goes to his child's school and he is searched and found with the drug, it will be taken away and he will be warned.
If a student is found with cannabis, it will be taken away and he or she will be warned by the school.
If the drug is found again in their possession, the Family Unit and the Social Services will be contacted and the student will have to attend counseling sessions.
1 Small Step for Weed - 1 Giant Leap to Cultivation?
A persistent question being asked is, if the law can ease up on users of marijuana, what happens to those who plant fields and cultivate and sell "weed" for recreational purposes? As is evident from crackdowns by the Gang Suppression Unit and other elements of the Police Department, those persons remain afoul of the law. Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte says a positive reaction to the recent changes may inform Government's next steps. That would be a boon for Reggie Hamilton, who mentioned his hopes that it will soon not be a crime for him to "experiment" with the medicinal properties of marijuana in his various natural healing products.
Reginald "Reggie" Hamilton, Naturalist Healer
"I would prefer to at least have the availability to cultivate or plant my own little tree but I cannot do so because of the situation and the red tape surrounding having a marijuana tree and now having more than ten grams, per se."
Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General
"It's illegal. If you do that you're going to be arrested and charged. We are not there where we want to allow the public or anybody to grow or cultivate marijuana. This was a small step that we took; it is the people who smoke marijuana and demonstrate what they are doing so for, they are being very responsible and very smart in how they are doing it. Once we realize that it can be enjoyed responsibly, and once we listen to what the Commission has to say and what the input of the Belizean public is, we can go from there to take further steps. But for now, we are satisfied with that one small step that we took; it's working. Let's incrementally go to another step and then we will see where we go from there. We are not there yet where we believe that it's in the best interest of the public to grow and cultivate marijuana. We are not there yet; but who knows? We may get there, depending on how people handle it, and what is the response of the public."
A.G. Says New Law Didn't End the World
Closer to home, how have things been going since marijuana decriminalization went into effect on November first? Very well, according to Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte, who told us that the effect of the law depends on responsible parents and adults to show the way. There is admittedly some lagging in other aspects of the legislation, such as drug counseling programs and specific laws on handling of minors with marijuana but the A.G. assures that this will soon be remedied.
Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General
"It seems to me that from the reports I've been getting - from the police, from the streets, from everybody - it is going smoothly. Contrary to what the naysayers and people who were swearing that the apocalypse would occur, it has gone very, very well. The people who are responsible - responsible parents who consume marijuana and even people who are not parents - have decided to consume it responsibly. So it is going very smoothly and certainly the world has not ended. We are hoping that - and we are still in the process of writing regulations to deal with the youths and young people that want to smoke marijuana and can't or won't be allowed to by law. We hope that we don't need to write regulations because we are hoping that people will respect and understand what it is for. But we are still writing the regulations, we are still putting the institutional structures that we have to, to deal with those who fall through the cracks; but I must say the way it is proceeding so far, it has been a tremendous success. We like the law that has been put in place; hopefully, the views that will be expressed to the Commission today, we can use some of those views to benefit locally, how we can make it better or to tweak it to a level where we can say we have a well-seasoned piece of legislation that address people who want to smoke their marijuana responsibly who are adults."
Your argument that there are potential positive uses of marijuana has merit. The point about the Belize government being responsible to regulate it dramatically weakens your argument.
The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
We have excerpts of the debate, starting with Church Senator Ashley Rocke's refusal to support the amendment. Here's how that went:
Mark Lizarraga - Senator for Business Sector
mixed with the vast amounts of research that has been conducted on the effects of drugs on brain development and the risk factors that lead to increased usage or as a cause of increased usage, I fear that many aspects of this bill does quite the opposite of what the drafters say."
"The point is that all of a sudden, when this law passes, now everybody is going to run out and start to get high and start to drive their bus and drive their forklift, students are going to start to smoke, go to school, insurance premiums are going to raise and that is really just a fallacious argument because it presupposes that a law like this which decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana will result in a dramatic increase of marijuana use without any evidence iota for that."
"I would like to offer some advice to my fellow senators, in particular, senators for the government side. When we offer comments on this amendment bill I ask you to please don't get overly worked up or overly defensive. This bill will pass, this bill will pass. The two major parties have expressed their support for this bill, so it will pass. And in some respects, it is a very progressive bill."
"Obviously I rise in support of this amendment. I am not a person who advocates in anyway the use of marijuana. As a matter of fact, I don't advocate the use of any drug except those prescribed by a medical practitioner that is supposed to help you get better. But I do recognize and I believe that we are in a situation in which we have taken a hard-line view on the use of marijuana, a view which does not necessarily coincide with any rational view."
"This week the National Assembly sent the papers to me for verification that all was in order. I signed off on it as attorney general and then it went to the Governor General telling the Governor General that everything is in order and I advised the Governor General to ascent and he so assented yesterday. So the document has been assented to and the law has been officially passed. It will go for a mass printing tomorrow at Print Belize and then from there it will go for distribution in the gazette, the next issue of the gazette, but the law is here. If you are an adult and you have in your possession 10 grams of marijuana or less, you are within the law and it's totally legal. You can be anywhere with those 10 grams or less except on school property."
