On October 8th, Caye Caulker is going to a referendum to determine whether marijuana should be legalized on the island. It's unprecedented and as you heard the PM say, it highlights the holes in the Referendum Act. However, the Minister of Home Affairs is on board with it. He explained that he's not worried about drug trafficking from Caye Caulker to other parts of the country since there will be strict measures in place if it is legalized in the village. He also added that he's prepared for pushback from the churches.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"You are allowed to have ten grams of cannabis on you. if Caye Calker is the sole distribution center, meaning you have a cultivation center. More than likely it would have to be an indoor cultivation center. If you have dispensaries in Caye Caulker, there will be a licensing process. And so every single plant, if you know the cannabis industry is tagged from seed all the way to the dispensary, all the way to the consumer. Under the law, the regulated law that we have, you have to get an ID in order to access cannabis from the dispensaries. And so that is not something that is a concern to me. What is a concern to me is the illegal trade of cannabis coming from Mexico every single day, endangering the lives of our young men, especially in the city, causing all of these rivals causing all of these conflicts. And so, in my opinion, I view the Caye Caulker referendum as a bold initiative by a tourist destination that's saying, hey, tourism is great, but we want to complement it with something. We want to complement it with a regulated industry that keeps cannabis away from young people, that you have to have a card to access it. You have to have areas where you can smoke it. It can't be free for all where you smoke cannabis anywhere on the island, we have consumption lounges, we have restaurant licenses, we have dispensaries. It's going to open up a huge opportunity, especially for tourism, especially for real estate on the island of Caye Caulker. And you best believe that that money, the portion of it going back to Caye Caulker will enhance the destination with infrastructure, with education opportunities for the Islanders. So there's a lot of potential. And I think Caye Caulker got way ahead of the rest of Belize."
Reporter:
"Do you foresee that pushback from the churches could force a pause on this initiative?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I expect a pushback from the churches that's always expected. But if you recall, what Pastor Wade now, Senator Weed had said, in the lead up to the referendum was that let the people decide. If the people decide we want cannabis, then by all means, let us create legislation. Responsible, regulated, legislation to allow for an industry to be created. So in the lead up to the referendum, I expect them to advocate against it. But at the same time, I expect them to respect it. Once a decision is made."
The date for the referendum is October 8th.
