Almost a week later the hot topic on the street and morning talk continues to be the Belize Police Department's controversial policy of applying discretion on youths found in possession of small quantities of marijuana. And if our online poll at 7newsbelize.com where the vote is 55% in favor and 45% against is any indication, the nation is divided about the policy. And that split right down the middle on social discourse is perhaps why few if anybody wants to comment on the issue. But one man who never shies away from a controversial topic is the Prime Minister Hon. Said Musa who was one of the first public proponents of the decriminalization of Marijuana. Today Musa weighed in on the debate.
Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister
"I think it is a very smart, very wise and very practical move. I support it. The simple truth is we have far more difficult crime problems that the police should be dealing with. Locking up people for smoking one stick of weed is not going to solve that person's problem or society's problem in terms of crime. So I support that move."
Jules Vasquez,
As a lawyer and a past attorney general however you know that the law is the law. You cannot improvise upon what the law says. You can change it by legislation but you cannot improvise upon what the law says…
Hon. Said Musa,
"There is also a law that says you shouldn't drive up a one way street. Often times the police would stop vehicles and tell the driver don't do this again or else you will be arrested. There is a similar thing going on here: they would warn the person, they would take them in and give them a serious caution. It is a first step. Perhaps the day will soon come when we will just legalize it or decriminalize it. But I believe that as a practical administrative measure it will help the situation."
Musa had his say and you can still get your view on the record by voting in our poll.