JAMAICA will this year join a virtual tidal wave of countries across the globe in decriminalising ganja, forerunner to the establishment of a medicinal marijuana industry estimated to be worth billions of dollars – Jamaica Observer
Yes the ‘rats’’ are jumping ship! Whether one believes marijuana is a vegetable matter and its use should not be restricted by man made laws or there is the lure of big bucks to be earned, the horse is about to bolt from the stable and Barbados – always the case of late – will be left to bring up the rear. All and sundry are aware, barring the hypocritical, that the GDP of Jamaica and St. Vincent are driven by the underground drug trade.
Many give wings to the saying ‘’follow pattern kill Cadogan’ however maintaining the status quo will likely send Barbadians to their economic graves albeit with our self righteousness securely intact. What options do we have anyway. We can continue to squeeze hypothetical economic growth from a model which has passed its shelf life or have the courage to explore hitherto forbidden economic avenues.
Barbados Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite most recent public statement on the issue to legalizing decriminalizing marijuana or not is captured in the Nation newspaper of January 2014.
‘This call has been given short shrift by Barbados. Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, at the start of Drug Awareness Month, ruled out the possibility of the legalization of marijuana here. He seemed more inclined to treatment and rehabilitation through a drug court – Nation newspaper’
A conclusion to be drawn from Brathwaite’s statement is that an already overburdened Court system creaking under the weight of outstanding cases that reach back more than a decade somehow finds the will and resources to become efficient. A Police Force starved of resources when the good times were rolling will somehow find the resources to protect our borders in austere times. The confidence that the Cabinet has deliberated on this matter after a thorough analysis was applied. Who are we fooling?
And of course there is the moral flag which will be raised by the Bajan majority -It is against the law and we are a country of laws. Easy access will translate to more ‘’spaced-out’’ young people. We have become very familiar with arguments. The world is moving in a direction to legalize decriminalize marijuana, what do we do? We maintain the status quo and our borders and foreign reserves will have to withstand greater pressure.
First it was the homosexuality issue, it is the turn of marijuana. There is an inevitably to it all, time to free up the weed.
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