Tonight, Caye Caulker is back to its "go slow" way of life after the excitement of yesterday's historic referendum. The island emphatically rejected the proposal of a legalized marijuana industry, with 80%, or 678 of the 857 voters who came out to the polls saying "no."
Put more plainly, it means 4 out of every 5 voters rejected the proposal.
Yesterday and into the night, our news team was on ground and Courtney Menzies put together an overview from when hopes were high, until the crushing results were announced - and the weed proponents probably needed to get high. Here is that story.
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"of the votes counted, for yes, a total of 176 which represent 20.54%. The votes counted for no, 678, which is 79.11% and rejected ballots were 3, which is.35%. I further certify that the results show that majority of the voters in Caye Caulker Village has voted against the proposition that the government in Belize should pass legislation to create a responsible, regulated, and taxable legal cannabis industry on the island of Caye Caulker with the portion of the revenue going directly for the benefit of Caye Caulker and its residents."
[cheering]
Those are the cheers of the Hope Not Dope team in Caye Caulker after they won by a landslide in yesterday's referendum. Since September, they've been around the island encouraging people to hit the polls and vote "no" to legalizing marijuana in their village.
The main face behind the campaign was Church Senator Louis Wade Jr, who explained why he so strongly opposes the creation of a marijuana industry in Belize.
Louis Wade Sr, Hope Not Dope
"I grew up in a generation that got drug education in school. NDAC was very active in teaching the statistics with what was happening with drugs so at the age of 7 or 8 I saw a friend of mine begin to take drugs and he had mental issues."
"by the time a person who is struggling with marijuana addiction realizes they need help, it's because the have to come with a document that says psychosis due to cannabis consumption, signed by a doctor. So I prefer to have conversations with people who have come off crack because it hasn't affected them mentally. Same thing with alcohol. If we get a person sober, they come back to their normal self. The person who does not come back to their normal self is the person who has struggled with marijuana addiction to the point where they have had mental illness."
But the other side of the coin - the "legalize it" team, spearheaded by village councillor Ilya Rosado - says that their opponents are all talk and no facts.
Ilya Rosado, Caye Caulker Village Councillor
"Pastor Wade has a certain bias. He claims to have a science degree but his facts and statistics, I've actually never seen them anywhere else. I'd honestly like and be interested in learning more about his sources because I'm always open to changing my mind but from the things that I've heard him say, it sounds like it's coming from more anecdotal evidence than actual scientific objective evidence and that's what I based my beliefs on and that's what I base my reasoning on."
He added that their main goal is not just to legalize marijuana, but to use the industry as a new and innovative way to generate more income for the council.
Ilya Rosado
"We get $5,000 a month from the government and our staff payroll is between $6,000-$7,000 a week. We can't afford to maintain these streets. If you have your camera pan around, you will see flooded streets this way, that way, every single direction and the method we have currently to fix these streets are just bandaids, we cannot continue this way. This is completely illogical."
Courtney Menzies, Reporter
"What would you say to the criticism that there are other ways other than legalizing marijuana?"
Ilya Rosado
"I'd like to hear other ways because I've tried several other ways and haven't received support."
Reporter
"besides the fact that you want to use it to generate income, what other benefits does it provide?"
Ilya Rosado
"If we talk about the social impact for one, we have less people being incarcerated for non-violent crimes."
"My priority will always be the poor and under privileged and they are vastly affected when it comes to these issues, far more than anyone else."
But while he may have had good intentions, it was rejected by almost 80% of the voters that came out.
Still, they do agree that they need better infrastructure - just with another source of revenue.
Louis Wade Sr, Hope Not Dope
"Caye Caulker deserves proper drainage, proper drainage system and not from weed, from tourism money."
"Do not promise the island taxes from money that is non-existent. Promise the island from tourism money."
Tracie Young, Caye Caulker Village Councillor
"It was a no and it's going to continue being a no and I hope that after today, everybody continue to unite as one people and fight for the island as we continue growing together."
Sergio Marin, Hope Not Dope
"This is a tough fight. We knew what we were up against and despite that, we have very resilient people here. We fought the fight, we came out victorious, we made a very strong bold statement. This island is for us and despite all the noise in the market, we overcame it."
Selena Jimenez Fuentes, Hope Not Dope
"I need to thank every single one again, you, Caye Caulker, you spoke out, it is a resounding no and I thank every single member, resident, voter that came out to cast their vote."
Marvin Florian, Pastor
"I lived here 18 years and this victory I want to dedicate it to God. Please make big noise. [Cheering]."
And though he lost, Rosado said it was all part of a learning experience and he will continue serving the island that elected him into office.
Ilya Rosado, Caye Caulker Village Councillor
Courtney Menzies, Reporter
"Are you disappointed though that you only got 100+ votes compared to the petition where you got over 300 signatures?"
Ilya Rosado, Caye Caulker Village Councillor
"No not really, I mean I think there's more that I could have done but this entire process was a learning experience and that's the beautiful thing about life is that whatever happens, if we can look at it beyond just the way we feel about the outcome, there's something beautiful to learn about whatever we experience."
"I guess kudos to Pastor Wade for a good campaign and he did I believe an excellent job. Even before this we were cordial and we will continue to remain cordial and I will continue to serve the community as I had made a promise to do so just a few months ago."
58% of the registered voters came out to vote - which is fairly high.
