Tonight, the national discourse over the possibility of full legalization of marijuana in Belize is heating up, with a mounting resistance that is loud, visible, and vocal. Several organizations are publicly calling for the Briceno Government to push the pause button on its legalization agenda, and the National Evangelical Association of Belize is leading the charge for a referendum.
In a press release, the NEAB said, quote, "...The people of Belize should be given a voice in such a radical shift in the moral fabric of our society... Every nation or state that has legalized marijuana has done so by Referendum. Except [for] Belize." End quote.
Shortly afterward, the Belize Council of Churches, a sister organization to the NEAB, followed up with their own press release offering moral and health reasons why legalization is a very bad move for the country. They also said, quote, "banking issues may arise from funds derived from the sale and distribution of a drug that remains illegal in many countries with which our banks have relationships." End quote.
Following those two organizations, the UDP also issued its own release, supporting NEAB's call for a referendum. And this afternoon, it was the National Trade Union Congress of Belize that also joined in with their support.
So, what does the Minister of New Growth Industries think about the public agitation for a referendum to poll public opinion? Well, he said it's a little too late for all of that since the Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill has already been passed in the National Assembly - and on top of that, it would also be a massive waste of money. Here's how the minister explained it.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries
"Unfortunately, this request is coming at a very late stage bill pass in the house and in the senate. It had the support not only of the leader of the opposition, but also the members of the opposition as well as the senate very vocally so, Senator Sheena Pitts and so it has the support not just of the government, but also of the opposition. I believe lead senator Courtenay has given the social partners a month if they want to request any further changes. So this is a third round of changes that we are potentially looking at. But for all intents and purposes the bill passed last week."
"I think the leader of the opposition or rather the United Democratic Party also put out a release in support of the referendum and what can I say, they have already indicated that they will support the bill and support the referendum - support a yes vote, which again I thank them for, but they certainly can afford to do that because will not have to foot the bill of a very costly referendum. It is the tax payers of the country that will actually have to pay and its in the millions of dollars, let be real. So you have 2 mass political parties that are supporting a particular bill, we already know mobilizes voters when it comes to a referendum, so you imagine you have the PUP and the UDP mobilizing constituents for a yes vote and so we kind of already know what the outcome of the vote will be, so I believe it will truly be a waste of resources unnecessarily so and I can tell you that while it is that the churches are asking for a referendum, I have gotten more calls, more comments from people even on social media saying please do not waste millions of dollars on a referendum which we already know what the outcome is going to be and so as leaders you truly have to be very decisive, we are stewards, not just of the policies of government and the direction of a country, but we are also stewards of the public purse and so we cannot afford to be reckless and just say okay a couple hundred or maybe a couple thousand people say we want a referendum, let's spend 2 million dollars on a referendum."
