And while the Opposition Leader has made it clear that he's in favor of legalization, he also sided with the churches, saying that it was important to get the input of the wider Belizean public.
Today, we asked the chairman, Michael Peyrefitte about the UDP's reaction to the churches getting enough signatures to trigger the referendum.
Mike Peyrefitte, UDP Chairman
"Well, it's been submitted, the signatures have been submitted. The last thing I heard was that chief elections officer was in the process of certifying the signatures to make sure they are legitimate and that indeed the necessary threshold was met, so we're just waiting on that and once she verifies that and certifies that then we are waiting to see what the government does from there to hold the referendum. What the current government is doing is trying to formalize. We made it clear that is was a form of decriminalization. If you were found with 10grams or less smoking it at home or in the privacy of somebody else home who gives you permission then you will be allowed to do that. This is a completely different thing. The government is looking to make sure that the marijuana situation becomes a business, becomes an industry and what we are saying is that if you're going to take it to that level, it has repercussions, serious repercussions, especially in the financial sector of the country. So if you are going to take something to a certain level that's going to affect us fundamentally, well then let the people decide if they are willing to pay that price."
