Referendum Promised on Full Decriminalization of Cannabis

On March 05, 2021 the lower house of parliament debated an amendment to the drug abuse prevention act that would remove the possession of 14 grammes of cannabis from the list of offences for which one can be charged, instead a ticketing system would be used.

The government is moving as promised in the direction of liberalising Barbados cannabis laws, following decriminalisation for medicinal and sacramental purposes last year. Government emphasized during the debate full decriminalisation will have to be subject to a referendum as stated in its manifesto.

Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Amendment Bill 2020 – Debate 1

Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Amendment Bill 2020 – Debate 2

108 thoughts on “Referendum Promised on Full Decriminalization of Cannabis


  1. Ineffectual, nonprogressive negros, they can’t lead me anywhere…FRAUDS…a danger to Black/African people everywhere…what do you expect from the corrupt who is in love with Pope Fraud…

    for 54 years the majority population WENT NOWHERE under their fake leadership…. growth and progress will never happen in another 54 years….people need to remove themselves far away from these colonial blights sucking on Black lives.


  2. If the Barbados government spent more time on issues that NEED ADDRESSING rather than the fluff and puff the country maybe on the road to RECOVERY. Same old same old bullshit baffles brains approach to make the populace think everything UNDER CONTROL, all the while the basic infrastructure is crumbling.


  3. It now seems that full decriminalization is a process for negotiation. Why this long drawn out approach? At this rate the referendum may be used as a bait for the next General Election.


  4. Our government does what it promises. Here and with vaccination!

    Soon we will be the smoke & dope capital of the world. Thank you, Supreme Leader!


  5. saw from the mrs and mr markle interview that the royal family is racist because they were wondering about color of baby. But come on ….who wants another ginger in the family….. imagine having to hide your kid every november 20 in case everyone tries to kick him.


  6. @ Lawson

    Come on. Some matters are beyond a joke. Forget Meghan, think about Harry and how he went from the most popular Royal, after the Queen, to the most disliked. What is the reason for that?
    What we do know, and according to GP it is irrefutable, Harry treats his wife much better than his father treated his mother.


  7. Lol Hal I have much reason to dislike british royalty but I am on their side with this one. Just from a logical stand point if you hate being in the public eye why get in the spotlight…this is all about shekels. You heard him hawking his wife doing voice overs to Bob Iger. But I do agree he may be damaged from his father and mothers relationship, are you saying marrying an older B actress was a cry for help.


  8. “who wants another ginger in the family…..”

    watch your mouth, ginger runs through my bloodline.


  9. “At this rate the referendum may be used as a bait for the next General Election.”

    that’s exactly what the FRAUD IS DOING…leveraging an unneeded referendum against election……SHE WILL LOSE….

    BTW..Heather…that video you posted recently about white children in poverty in South Africa, i said they can all go back to Holland, well it turns out Holland don’t want those stinking, toxic racists anywhere near them, not even the children, but i would deport all their asses anyway….right back there.


  10. @ Lawson

    No. What I am saying is that two young people met, fell in love, and got married. That simple human act was too much for the British press and they went for them, with the implicit support of British society.
    Blacks are acceptable when they are the waiters or grooms, but not when they are sitting at the table.


  11. Hal this has nothing to do with race this is a drama queen her own family say so, when this is over I feel for that poor boy. The best line I have seen is she makes camilla seem like a nice person. the Queens a racist she implies do you think the brits are going to put up with that.


  12. @ Lawson

    Her white family said so. If you keep up this argument you are in danger of making Waru seem intelligent.


  13. (Quote);
    The government is moving as promised in the direction of liberalising Barbados cannabis laws, following decriminalisation for medicinal and sacramental purposes last year. Government emphasized during the debate full decriminalisation will have to be subject to a referendum as stated in its manifesto. (Unquote).
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Both of those pieces of legislation- for medicinal and sacramental (religious) purposes- fly in the face of the Constitution with its non-discriminatory niceties.

    They are both pandering to partisan interest of specific groups of citizens while discriminating against other groups without just cause; both legislatively and morally.

    What ‘moral’ wrong is being perpetrated against these so-called vulnerable groups to make them super citizens in the eyes of the law?.

    What is this new ‘nature’s’ brand of man-cultivated pharmaceutical called medicinal mary jane (the recently hired assistant to the goddess Hygeia) bringing to the human medicine cabinet that the man-made dispensary has not already brought to he “traditional” pharmacy’s table?

    Should Ms Mary Jane, that old Satanic plant, be given a legal ‘floral’ makeover similar to what the papal-defined whore Mary Magdalene was given as a ‘Christian’ makeover to turn that formerly desecrated person into a ‘holy’ saint?

    What is so special these days about the Rastafarian community to make them a ‘special case’ in need of some legal entitlement to special treatment similar to what disabled people are entitled to, like wheel-chair access and reserved parking?

    Is it the government’s way of compensating the Rasta community for the decades of unjustified persecution like what the Romans did to the early Christian community?


    • Thanks Miller.

      @Heather

      Is this a black or white issue?

      With decriminalization of cannabis like others there are the competing perspectives based on the philosophical or science.


  14. “They are both pandering to partisan interest of specific groups of citizens while discriminating against other groups without just cause; both legislatively and morally.”

    They are ALL FRAUDS…sucking on BLACK LIVES…that’s all they’ve ever done…it’s up to the Black population to let it continue, we know that the slaveminded would, but not everyone is thus……

    “to what disabled people are entitled to, like wheel-chair access and reserved parking?”

    you would notice that the DISABLED were COMPLETELY LEFT OUT….all other countries PROVIDED legal remedy so that the DISABLED and the AVERAGE CITIZEN can grow at least 4-6 MARIJUANA PLANTS per year to cut down on pain and suffering due to chronic pain and the symptoms associated with NCDs that’s killing bajans by the THOUSANDS ANNUALLY……but not the colonial frauds of parliament, they are not interested on easing the burden on the healthcare system..

    “her own family say so,”

    her white family are the WORSE TYPES OF DRAMA QUEENS….have heard her crazy sister and brother…ya would call for straight jackets for them right away..

    besides, all UK need to do is create a DISTRACTION and yall fall RIGHT INTO IT……..🤣🤣😂😂…yall are gossiping MEN…

    “black ginger Waru”

    BOTH SIDES Lawson..both sides.


  15. @ Lawson March 8, 2021 9:43 AM
    (Quote):
    Hal this has nothing to do with race this is a drama queen her own family say so, when this is over I feel for that poor boy. The best line I have seen is she makes camilla seem like a nice person. the Queens a racist she implies do you think the brits are going to put up with that. (Unquote).
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    How do you think the current Queen Lizzie managed to ascend the British Royal throne? By sleeping her way up to the top like some corporate ladder-climbing ambitious hussy?

    Can you tell us how the poor Prince Harry is in any way different from His great-grand Uncle Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, the Prince of Wales turned King Edward V111 of Great Britain and its Commonwealth of colonies including Canada?

    Didn’t that besotted king give up his throne just to be with his twice-divorced sweet American man-woman Wallis Simpson?

    Hasn’t the recycled royalty ‘redhead’ called the radical prince Harry fall into the same American divorcee honey trap (with that Baltimore grip) like his great grand ancestor Edward V111?

    Are you are going to accept his paternal heritage as ‘truly blue-blooded’ German or are you going to question poor Harry’s royal background; as you should with the Jesus jacket ready-made for poor Prince Joseph?

    ‘Those ‘native’ commoners (like you) who live in mud huts or igloos should not throw stones at the royalty living in glass houses in far way places.’


  16. Miller…it’s been PROVEN beyond a doubt that medical marijuana SANS big pharma chemicals…significantly reduces chronic pain, the discomfort associated with heart attacks and strokes…and a myriad of other illnesses..

    .but SANS big pharma chemicals…

    i saw one person who had two stokes and two heart attacks, could barely walk and months later they are running all over the place, and that’s only one…there are thousands and thousands of stories where medical marijuana has created quality of life……sans side effects…


  17. @ et al
    We are a strange lot ! I actually thought we were going to discuss the topic.

    Here is my five cents, for what it is worth::
    Let the people grow the plant. It does not belong to the government. The market will take care of the rest , just like it does with lettuce or cabbage.


    • @William

      Is there a cost to society to managing the fallout from misuse of cannabis compared to lettuce?


  18. William…it’s very clear what the low class and slimy are trying to do. But nobody mankind makes plans and our ancestors laugh.

    No matter if ya earned it legally.

    OR TIEF it like many we know. It can’t help ya..

    “French MP and billionaire DIES in helicopter crash

    French billionaire politician Olivier Dassault has been killed in a helicopter crash, according to AFP.

    Dassault, 69, was son of industrialist Serge Dassault, whose group owns Le Figaro newspaper.

    Reports say the pilot also died in the accident over Normandy.”


  19. @ David March 8, 2021 11:16 AM

    You are about to step on a trail of hot coals while juggling a full hand of hot potatoes.

    Why the lowly lettuce comparison which can never be considered a drug; whether natural or man-made?

    How about the locally-manufactured rum or imported whisky, vodka and brandy as a more compellingly convincing comparison?

    If a grower of all herbs ‘accidentally’ smoke (instead of cigarettes) a common plant or herb like the blue vervain and found out that it does indeed possess psychotropic properties like cannabis sativa when burnt or soaked in a tincture, wouldn’t you expect the government to criminalize it unless they can find a way of taxing that sinful habit?

    You might be surprised to learn that the marijuana plant when consumed by herbivores or even carnivores as a natural medicine does a tremendous job of improving the health of the digestive tracts and the quality of the output readily consumed by humans.

    So why not use the ‘proposed’ locally-grown cannabis as an ingredient of the feedstock to improve the health of the animals which provide a ready source of food for humans instead of the numerous kinds of synthetic medicines like antibiotics presently used on those government-subsidized commercial farms?


    • @Miller

      Your argument is understood but you are aware of the time of prohibition. There is a period of transition that is required to accommodate demands from a changing society INCLUDING the establishment. This is how societies are wired to do business. Note Barbados is not alone in the phased approach of decriminalizing the drug/


  20. “Let the people grow the plant. It does not belong to the government.”

    anything to CRIMINALIZE Black people while ROBBING THEM BLIND…

    the Black population has to PUT AN END TO THAT…..no one else can.


  21. David
    This government is tiptoeing on this matter after promising much more. Barbados will never do anything too radical even when needed.

    Markets are protected, fought over and controlled. There is nothing sacred about them. Socalled free markets end up with monopolies and oligopolies. More of the same.

    If this BLP guvment were serious the cannabis market would have been protected by law for those who suffered to make it “legitimate”


    • @Pacha

      The government promised a referendum and in the interim decriminalize if caught with small quantities did they not?


  22. Cannabis is not a drug it is a herb / plant

    referendum about decriminalisation is not the way to go as it will be a numbers game

    people smoke herb already and are not criminals they are upstanding honorary citizens


  23. David

    Why would they always have to serve the traditional moneymen? This is what they fixing for. No less than criminal!


  24. “have been protected by law for those who suffered to make it “legitimate””

    the piece of shit in the social parasites partnership already talking about they got the marijuana, only compounding that no one with Black skin can trust the Black faces….while they distract with crap about a referendum…giving minority parasites time to get a foothold, while the Black population gets nothing….


  25. Miller March 8, 2021 11:52 AM #: “You are about to step on a trail of hot coals while juggling a full hand of hot potatoes. Why the lowly lettuce comparison which can never be considered a drug; whether natural or man-made?”

    @ Miller

    I’m sure David is quite capable of defending himself, but he wasn’t the person who introduced lettuce into the discussion.

    I interpreted Mr. Skinner’s comments to mean ‘government’ should decriminalize marijuana, which would allow “the people to grow it”……… and the market would determine demand, supply and price, “just like it does with lettuce or cabbage.”

    David simply asked, “if there is a cost to society to managing the fallout from misuse of cannabis compared to lettuce,” which I believe is a fair question.

    Bearing that in mind, why did you take the ‘discussion’ way beyond its context, to mention “locally-manufactured rum or imported whisky, vodka and brandy as a more compellingly convincing comparison;” the consumption of marijuana plant as a “natural medicine by herbivores or even carnivores;” and, “as an ingredient of the feedstock to improve the health of the animals,” which essentially is a completely different argument.


  26. Millord I didn’t realize you were so royal, nothing wrong with an igloo or you you hating mukluks now. We (as in most men) know the type of woman ,shake our heads at our buddy’s that are pussy whipped . Slowly but surely they divide and conquer until friends and family fall by the wayside, and the guy usually years down the road cant figure out what happened.
    Black ginger Waru craving the manroot eh , Lol as William was trying to tell him act in haste repent at leisure. I totally agree with Hals assessment the poor boy was easy pickens do to trauma.


  27. Yall gossiping MEN can stay there with ya sous sousing…bunch of hoes…

    Harry already made his choice to be free….why don’t yall go and take his place….ah dare ya…


  28. @ Artax March 8, 2021 1:01 PM
    “I interpreted Mr. Skinner’s comments to mean ‘government’ should decriminalize marijuana, which would allow “the people to grow it”……… and the market would determine demand, supply and price, “just like it does with lettuce or cabbage.”

    David simply asked, “if there is a cost to society to managing the fallout from misuse of cannabis compared to lettuce,” which I believe is a fair question.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    And I totally support William Skinner’s position. Laws must reflect the moral principle of fairness and equality wherever possible.

    Every potentially mind or body altering substance that is misused has a societal cost attached.

    That’s why there are agents like the police and the psychiatric and general hospitals to handle the fallout.

    That’s where the abuse of alcoholic beverages becomes relevant.

    There where the abuse of food (overeating of processed foods) comes into the picture arising from the massive high rates of NCD’s plaguing the country.

    The only question confronting the society is who shall pay for the management of the fallout.

    Would you be prepared to support a call for the imposition of a fine of $200.00 on any one caught in possession of a pint of rum or other forms of ‘spirits’ for personal consumption or jail and a conviction for anything over that?


  29. “as stated in its manifesto”
    Wondering if the next thread will be a checklist of all manifesto items, and their stage of accomplishment.


  30. Gods spirituals laws are intuitive but I guess those who have power love laws like it’s superpowers over mortals

    Police should just issue a statement that they will not charge or prosecute anyone with half a zee

    then let the lawmakers rigorously debate the non issue of removing their damned law from the frigging statue books


  31. Meghan wiped the royals off the floor

    she gets even more respect from me

    American women are tough and don’t take shit


  32. Lol Dub please explain to me why they have left britain because of racism to move to an even more racist country, do you guys not read what you write. She will soon be forgotten oprah will have to sell her house to get away from the soon to be toxic couple.


  33. Britain is more racist than USA you need to have lived in both countries to know

    who feel’s it to knows it

    in USA women and girls are more outgoing and interesting than men and boys who are quiet boring and unintelligent

    although there are some areas down south where KKK men shoot up withe women for dating coloureds those are just more examples of the regressive dumb white men


  34. @ Miller March 8, 2021 2:03 PM

    Of course, I would “be prepared to support a call for the imposition of a fine of $200.00 on any one caught in possession of a pint of rum or other forms of ‘spirits’ for personal consumption or jail and a conviction for anything over that,”………………..

    …………. IF alcohol consumption was ILLEGAL.

    But, if you were attempting to make a correlation between herb and alcohol, at this point in time, whereas it is illegal to smoke or be in possession of any quantity of herb because it is a controlled substance, “the consumption or abuse of alcoholic beverages” is NOT illegal, so too is “the abuse of food (overeating of processed foods).”

    Therefore, ‘at the end of the day,’ “it’s NOT a question confronting the society,” but a fact IT IS “the society WHO, (through taxes), shall pay for the management of the fallout.”

    And, this includes the operating and administrative expenses for “agents like the police and the psychiatric and general hospitals to handle the fallout.”


  35. 4 posts and no crappy records what happen your pornograph go on the fritz. Speaking of fritz how about harry in the nazi outfit, and that shooting up women kkk guy was that ralph northam


  36. Soundsystems must warm up their speakers for a couple of hours before they tun it up

    After playing reggae for 10+ hours I like to chill with jazz

    I wonder how many tunes I will be able to find with lyrics on the subject matter topic in hand

    got music like dirt

    “Man whats the matter with that cat there?”
    “Must be full of reefer”
    “Full of reefer?!”
    “Yea man”
    “You mean that cats high?!”
    “Sailing”
    “Sailing”
    “Sailing lightly”
    “Get away from here
    Man is that the reefer man?”
    “Thats the reefer man”
    “I belive hes losing his mind”
    “I think hes lost his mind!”
    Oh have you ever met that funny reefer man (reefer man!)
    Have you ever met that funny reefer man (reefer man!)
    If he said he swam to china, and he sell you south carolina
    Then you know your talkn to that reefer man
    Have you ever met funny reefer man (reefer man!)
    Have you ever met funny reefer man (reefer man!)
    If he said he walks the ocean, any time he takes the notion
    Then you know your talkn to reefer man.
    Have you ever met this funny reefer man (reefer man!)
    Oh baby…


  37. When I Get Low I Get High
    My fur-coat’s sold, oh, Lord ain’t it cold
    But I’m not gonna holler ’cause I’ve still got a dollar
    And when I get low, oh, I get high
    My man walked out, now you know that ain’t right
    Well, he better watch out if I meet him tonight
    I said when I get low, oh, I get high
    All this hard luck in this town has found me
    Nobody knows how troubles go round and round me, oh
    I’m all alone with no one to pet me
    That old rocking chair ain’t never gonna get me
    Cause when I get low, oh, I get high
    When I get low
    Oh I get high


  38. Boy, shes really frantic,
    the wildest chick in town
    She blows her gauge,
    flies in a rage,
    Sweet Marijuana Brown

    In her victory garden,
    The seeds grow all around
    She plants, you dig,
    she’s flipped her wig,
    Sweet Marijuana Brown

    She don’t know where she’s going,
    She don’t care where she’s been
    But every time you take her out,
    she bound to take you in
    Boy, that gal means trouble,
    you oughta put her down
    Get hip, take care, look out, beware of Sweet Marijuana Brown

    She don’t know where she’s going,
    She don’t care where she’s been
    But every time you take her out,
    she bound to take you in
    Boy, that gal means trouble,
    you oughta put her down
    Get hip, take care, look out, beware of Sweet Marijuana Brown


  39. @ Artax March 8, 2021 3:27 PM
    “But, if you were attempting to make a correlation between herb and alcohol, at this point in time, whereas it is illegal to smoke or be in possession of any quantity of herb because it is a controlled substance, “the consumption or abuse of alcoholic beverages” is NOT illegal, so too is “the abuse of food (overeating of processed foods).””
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    And that is exactly the bone of contention.

    The objective is to remove the illegality cum criminalization aspect of the consumption of the plant in whichever form to put it on par with other substances determined as dangerous for human consumption.

    What is the political purpose behind the retention of the criminalization of the plant? Doesn’t it make a mockery of that two-tier or track violation of the law?

    Isn’t the person caught with less than 14 grams (and fined $200.00) still aiding and abetting in the illegal (and ‘criminal’) growing and supply of that same controlled substance?

    Why should the same marijuana plant (which has been a given a bad name, as alcohol once attracted during Prohibition) be used for medicinal purposes but it cannot be used for culinary purposes as is widely done in some cultures?

    This ‘decriminalization’ move would put it on the same footing as lettuce or any other ‘herb’ as William Skinner with a large dose of commonsense (and personal experience as his ‘chaser’) suggested.

    If naturall-growing marijuana is good enough for medicine it is even better as a food.

    Isn’t healthy natural food considered the best preventative medicine for the human body?


  40. https://thegrio.com/2021/03/08/wanda-james-simply-pure-feature/

    “Wanda James is on a mission to generate opportunities for BIPOC within cannabis industry – TheGrio
    Wanda James, CEO and founder of Simply Pure, sat down with theGrio to open up about being the first Black legally licensed cannabis seller”

    the US has had demons haunting it for centuries…but it’s NOWHERE NEAR AS NASTY, DISCRIMINATORY and DISENFRANCHISING TO Black business people as RACIST, APARTHEID, GO NOWHERE BLACK SELLOUT, slave society BARBADOS….

    she is the first Black female, but they have been DOZENS OF BLACK MALES starting their marijuana industry.

    Happy International Women’s Day..


  41. @ WURA-War-on-UMarch 8, 2021 4:29 PM

    Black people have been mentally raped especially those in Barbados.

    They have been totally brainwashed into seeing cannabis only as a dangerous substance smoked by a group of social misfits and societal outcasts.

    There are so many other faces to mary jane to make the aloe vera plant look like a wall flower at a prom.

    Marijuana and her by-products have great potential in the natural cosmetics and skin care products business arena.

    The Body Shop was selling skin and hair products made from cannabis sativa oil since the early 1990’s in the UK.

    This is one area black entrepreneurs in Barbados can exploit along with the use of the same plant in the food and drink sectors to ‘indigenise’ their offers.


  42. Yeah…let the people die off and then blame it on them or call it covid to get some funding…..a medical professional came out and spoke about the deteriorating health care and still ya did nothing.

    people could have had their home grown remedy for the last 2 years to help them along, but that was too good for them right…now they have to wait 2 more years and don’t even know if any homegrown, home help marijuana will be available to them…playing games COST LIVES…i was going to mention if earlier but thought that was picking, but this isn’t.

    “Janet JamesBarbados Hall of Shame
    rt5Spolnhasored ·
    Happy woman day to. u.
    These are things that are happening behind the seams but we are frighten to speak for fear of victimisation. I don’t think nothing worse can happen to me now.
    Today I want to share my plight. And asking what can be done for persons like myself. I am an outpatient of the QEH as from the time Covid 19 step in healthcare for me has stop I am sure I am not the only one. I was prep for serious operation which would have stop my perfused bleeding I am experiencing I am very weak . All my appointments to my clinics have been cancelled time and time again I have called and explain my deteration but no one hears. I had a good friend who was prep for an OP was on the ward when we heard of the first Covid case and she cancelled and few months after she died from something that could of been rectified. We are lacking healthcare because of Covid.”


  43. Am sure everyone remembers when i told Mia on more than one occasion to let go the marijuana to eleviate the suffering on the island, i know of it personally…the Fowl Slaves carried on…….now it looks like they all got fired.


  44. Miller…and then there is that…too numerous to mention…but she is holding it for special interests when there are NOT ENUFF OF THEM to drive the industry…..and all of them are too dishonest to do it the right way..but ya know everybody want to be slave master, and i would move away and leave all of them as slavemasters over each other, let me see them manage the island further into the ground on their own…minus X of the population;


  45. Do Bajans have the right constitution to handle the weed

    they may get fucked up like white people who have a couple of puffs

    or they may become rebels like Jamaicans


  46. @ David
    You asked me :
    , Is there is a cost to society to managing the fallout from misuse of cannabis compared to lettuce,

    Would you believe there is a cost to the over consumption of sweetdrinks, sweetbread and pudding and souse?
    There is no empirical evidence that suggests marijuana causes more ” to cost to society ” than rum.


    • Your unfiltered position is recognized William. The blogmaster has tabled the view whether we go with science or take a philosophy view there is a recognition that the establishment informs these kinds of matters. Unfortunately it is the way of the world, the priority of process above immediate desired outcomes.


  47. “There is no empirical evidence that suggests marijuana causes more ” to cost to society ” than rum.”

    I have a serious question to ask I bullshit you not

    Does Barbados have a sizeable alcohol problem as in many deaths caused etc


  48. The so called Drug War was founded by a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger”>Henry Aslinger the first comissioner of Narcotics in FBI who was full on racist.

    His racist propaganda said

    Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men and makes white women want to sleep with black men

    Two Negroes took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis.

    Anslinger targeted Billie Holiday for her 1939 song Strange Fruit, threatening her and instructing her to stop performing the song. She was handcuffed on her death bed on charges of drug possession. He also targeted Charlie Parker. Anslinger hoped to orchestrate a nationwide dragnet of jazz musicians and kept a file called “Marijuana and Musicians”.


  49. For a long time now, I have been pointing out on BU a number of culturally predictable behaviours which I have used the portmanteau term Barbados (Barbadian) Condition to describe.
    These are behaviours that, no matter an individual’s social or educational background, they display under certain conditions.
    For pointing out this cultural fact, I have been slammed by the BU community, aright, left and centre. Some have defensibly compared what I have said unfavourably with the UK, US, Canada and other developed nations.
    Few, however, have been prepared to discuss the issues seriously. If I had said, as many of our leaders do, t hat Barbados was world class and we are the best, then there no doubt would have been loud applause. We have been brainwashed in to believing the almost religious notion that we are small but perfectly formed.
    Recently the president talked in parliament about the Barbados Addiction, and, ignoring her habit of treating her experiences as the benchmark for the nation, she talked about bad eating habits etc, and mentioned that she had reached out to the ministry of education and was in the process of doing so with the ministry of elder affairs.
    No-one reminded her that she has now been in power approaching three years, including a year of a pandemic, and people want policies not waffle and hand gesturing. Her contribution to the cannabis debate needs a fuller airing.
    There is a wider argument about policy, which I have also said the president is not familiar with. She is not a thinker, but an ideas sponge, soaking up other people’s ideas (ie @PLT remote working visas) as is the professional custom of lawyers.
    Once they have been briefed by clients, they go in to court and argue a case as if they were eyewitnesses, and, they are equally capable of taking a brief for the opposition and arguing just as strongly.

    However, here is the Barbados Today report in full:

    As Parliament was amending the law to lighten drug possession penalties on Friday, the Prime Minister scolded Barbadians for their “addiction” to macaroni pie, pigtails, alcoholic beverages and other “bad habits”.
    The PM drew on her own current love for the heavily salted meat and her past love of cigarettes, as she expressed concern that Barbadians continued to be addicted to several unhealthy food choices.
    As the Attorney General introduced the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control (Amendment) Bill, she announced that her administration is seeking to introduce a “holistic approach” to the issue of drug use and drug addiction.
    “There is an issue with addiction and bad habits in the country. The addiction is not just with cannabis, the addiction is with macaroni pie, the addiction is to pigtail,” said Mottley, who admitted to loving the latter.
    Stressing that balance was necessary, Mottley, who quit cigarette smoking some years ago, said she understood the challenges associated with addiction, adding that everyone had a role to play.
    She said: “There are people who like liquor, who must have a rum or brandy every day or whisky. There are some who believe that a meal without wine is not a meal.
    “The chronic non-communicable diseases, it hurts me . . . the extent to which young Barbadians are more at risk of diabetes now. I suspect there is far more risk there than for most other things in their behaviour, but because it appears to be benign we say ‘let the child eat some food, you always bothering the child about eating greens all the time’, when in truth and in fact all of us in here know that the digestion system needs it.”
    Mottley said she has already reached out to the Ministry of Education and was in the process of reaching out to the Ministry of Empowerment and Elder Affairs and the Public Affairs Division in the Ministry of Public Affairs to raise awareness and lead a campaign to “transform how we eat and how we drink”.
    She said meetings were held last year and the process had started to bring about some structural changes to social service ministries, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it “difficult to continue”.
    But she told the House: “I give this honourable chamber the commitment that this Government will stay focused on changing the structures of our social services, just as we are intended to do with our educational services, and just as we are doing now with our criminal justice system.
    “I want to change the structures that we have in our social sector ministry in order to be able to allow them to treat to families as opposed to individuals.
    “When you treat to families you have allies; when you treat to the church, the community groups and the cultural groups and sporting groups you have allies.”
    Mottley said she believed there needed to be more parental control, saying she was “perhaps more concerned about the extent to which we do not have strong parental education”.
    The Prime Minister said she was reaching out to Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley and “all right-thinking Barbadians” who were willing, to help spread awareness and encourage children to make better health decisions, adding that families had a major role to play.
    She lamented that children were being given “juice loaded up with sugar all day”.
    Mottley declared: “Is this is going to be the first generation where children lead the adults? There are none of us in here who could have told our parents you want to do X, Y or Z and get away with it without consequences.”
    The PM gave an assurance that while Government would not be able to eradicate every risk “we will do our best”.
    She also singled out the issue of individuals going to prison for non-payment of child support, saying “we need to find a way where that is really the last possible act of the state”.
    “We need to introduce civil penalties on a wider range of stuff,” she added, while also expressing concern about “the nastiness” of the country due to illegal dumping, an issue she promised would be addressed head-on….(Quote)


    • The Barbados Today report is not a fair representation of what the prime minister tried to convey with her personal story about bad eating habits. We are free to listen/watch part 1 of the video embedded in this blog.


  50. That Cat Is High
    The Ink Spots

    Boys, I’m mellow as a honeydew, yeah
    That cat is high
    Look at that look in his eye
    Oh man, he’s high
    Yes, higher than a kite
    That cat is high
    Look at that look in his eye
    Man, I wouldn’t lie
    The cat’s higher than a kite
    Now when you see him stumblin’
    Bubbed in and down the street
    You know that cat’s been drinkin’
    Got no shoes upon his feet
    Man he’s high
    I said that cat is high
    Yes, he’s high
    Man, he’s higher than a kite
    That cat is high
    Look at that look in his eye
    Man, I wouldn’t lie
    That cat’s higher than a kite
    Boys, he’s high
    Just look at them two black eyes
    You know I wouldn’t lie
    He’s higher than the sky
    When you see him tippin’
    Round and round the block
    Know that cat he’s very beat
    Hip clean down to his socks
    That cat is high
    Boys, I wouldn’t lie
    Oh my, oh my
    He’s higher than a kite, yeah
    Shoot the liquor to me, John Boy
    When you see him stumblin’
    Up and down the street
    You know that cat’s been drinkin’
    Got no shoes upon his feet
    Man, he’s high
    Yes, he’s high, my, oh my
    I want the home cookin’ mama with the fryin’ pan
    I know that cat’s high, yeah

    Let’s Go Get Stoned
    Ray Charles

    Let’s go get stoned
    Let’s go get stoned
    When your baby won’t let you in
    Got a few pennies, a bottle of gin
    Just call your buddy on the telephone
    Let’s go get stoned
    Let’s go get stoned
    Let’s go get stoned
    When you work so hard all the day long
    And everything you do seems to go wrong
    Just drop by my place on your way home
    Let’s go get stoned
    It ain’t no harm
    You’re takin just a taste
    But don’t blow your cool
    And start messing up the place
    It ain’t no harm you’re faking just a nip
    But make sure you don’t fall down bust your lip
    Let’s go get stoned
    Let’s go get stoned


  51. “I have been slammed by the BU community, aright, left and centre. “

    You often like to portray yourself as a black radical thinker but psychometric testing analysis shows you are a right wing conservative and you cannot be both you are one or the other Harold. When some such bleeding edge biting cutting truths are pointed out which are too near the knuckle for you liking you go all schtum and like to keep mum and are guilty as charged.

    The jury find I guilty
    Jah prove I innocence
    Jah prove them
    Jah is my defence
    Jah prove my innocence
    Love will conquer them
    and their evil adversaries
    Live up
    Live up now
    They think they could hold us down
    pushing us around
    but one day the table will turn
    you will be wearing the frown
    remember that


  52. Jack, I’m Mellow
    Trixie Smith, Sidney Bechet

    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m sailin’ in the sky
    Just blow some gage
    I’m on a rampage
    Jack, I’m mellow
    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m way up in the sky
    The world seems light
    And I’m so right
    Jack, I’m mellow
    I’m going to put my nickel in a slot machine
    And play my solid sender
    I’m going to strut, peck and Suzie-Q
    ‘Cause I’m on a bender
    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m sailin’ in the sky
    I got my roach ’round
    And I can’t come down
    Jack, I’m mellow
    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m sailin’ in the sky
    Just blow some gage
    I’m on a rampage
    Jack, I’m mellow
    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m way up in the sky
    The world seems light
    And I’m so right
    Jack, I’m mellow
    I’m going to put my nickel in a slot machine
    And play my solid sender
    I’m going to strut, peck and Suzie-Q
    Have alone a bender
    I’m so high and so dry
    I’m sailin’ in the sky
    I got my roach around
    And I can’t come down
    Jack, I’m mellow


  53. @555dubstreet
    Many of the NCDs are related to excessive use of alcohol and cigarette smoking, lack of exercise etc.


  54. @ Hal
    You seem to forget that Mottley is a new member of parliament, who was elected to Parliament in May 2018. Therefore , she is now becoming aware of these issues. Before becoming Prime Minister, she had never held a ministry and would not have been aware that the country had these maladies.
    You on the other hand, should pay more attention to what is going on in Englan’ . But people like you just like to criticise Mottley and that is the problem. You know full well, the woman is now becoming familiar with these issues. After all she has only been in Parliament for three short years.
    Stop bashing the PM , please.


  55. @ William

    Plse do not fall fore this publicity grabbing nonsense from the president. She could not think herself out of a scratch grain bag.
    Most of the 40000 diabetics (and those not yet diagnosed) are the result of lifestyle choices, that much is true. A lot of the high blood pressure if from the over-use of salt, that too is true.
    Let us start with the salt first. We as slave societies started overusing salt as a result of food preservation – salt fish, red herrings, etc, because we did not have the weather or refrigerators to prolong the life of our foods.
    Remember that the fridge only became a part of our domestic white goods in the 1960s, when many of the owners used to sell ‘ice cream blocks’ as a way of paying for their fridges.
    We eat process foods because they are the foods of the poor – corned beef, pilchards, pig tails, etc. These are not new discoveries, as the president is pretending.
    Here is a woman, now in her mid-50s, who has spent all her adult life in politics, when did these issues first came on hear radar?
    @William, if she meant well, make fresh fruit and vegetables VAT free, this will not only guarantee people eating better, it will also encourage the agricultural business we like to talk about.
    Cut back on the health spend by emphasising the wellness; why not establish two or three state gyms with free membership (first come, first served?); why not created a post of chief nutritional adviser with the same status as the CMO, offering suitable diets to the nation?
    Why not a one car per household policy, that will not only reduce carbon emissions, but it will force more people to walk. Give the elderly free bus passes.
    None of these will give immediate results, but over time we will have a healthier nation. We can go on and on thinking along these lines, but you see where I am coming from?
    To repeat my point, the president is not a thinker. She is an ideas sponge, grabbing what others say and running with it.


  56. @ William

    You gotma. You now know my hidden (not so hidden) agenda? I am not even a Bajan. I was born in England, or was it Canada, or the US? I believe she is the new Goddess. Where is @Tron?


  57. @ William
    Thanks for the reply.
    Sri Lanka has one of the worst alcohol problems in the world and many men die early. The custom for a group of men is to share and always finish the bottle (or bottles) of arrack when they gather together and will never leave a half or quarter bottle over in a session, and they will also chain smoke (cigarettes) one after the other non-stop.

    Now back to the matter in hand..


  58. @ David March 9, 2021 2:13 AM
    “Your unfiltered position is recognized William. The blogmaster has tabled the view whether we go with science or take a philosophy view there is a recognition that the establishment informs these kinds of matters. Unfortunately it is the way of the world, the priority of process above immediate desired outcomes.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    It seems that countries like Antigua and St. Vincent are more enlightened jurisdictions than the backwardly punching ‘below’ its weight country called Barbados the marijuana smoking capital of the Eastern Caribbean which turned former banana farmers into marijuana millionaires.

    Both of those Lesser Antilles ‘nation’ states have made legislative provisions for a legal way of sourcing their citizens’ marijuana supply up to the legal limits from their own home-grown stash of legalized plants.

    Now tell us how in the Bajan world of ‘tarnation’ do the ‘politically-wise men and women’ expect people to limit themselves to the possession of no more than 14 grammes (with a $200 penalty, if caught) unless the same consumers are themselves customers to businesses carrying on (underground) illegal activities in the form of growing and supplying a contraband substance?

    Why can’t the political class in Barbados swallow its boastfully misguided pride of making their country’s laws look like an ass drinking rum instead of eating grass?

    It’s not too late to play catch up and follow the example set by either Antigua or St. Vincent as far as home-grown supply of marijuana is concerned to meet the personal consumption demand as stipulated in their more enlightened and morally superior laws?


  59. “Why can’t the political class in Barbados swallow its boastfully misguided pride of making their country’s laws look like an ass drinking rum instead of eating grass?”

    the biggest, most BACKWARD ASSES IN THE WORLD…always depicting how they LOVE to dis-empower the Black population and believe someone is impressed, when they are the ONLY country doing this evil shit to their own people and believe it makes them look intelligent…laughingstocks…


  60. Am only giving up this idea because it may result in people being more health conscious and learning to take care of what their tax dollars bought and DON’T DESTROY IT….

    some years ago i was in Trinidad and noticed there were outdoor neighborhood excercise equipment installed in nearby parks….the people TOOK CARE OF THEM. …and watched out for those destructive idle hands that love to destroy…

    with the health of a little homegrown marijuana, a healthier diet and the bad health that Bajans are now notorious for, will improve.


  61. with the HELP of a little homegrown marijuana, a healthier diet…. and the bad health that Bajans are now notorious for, will improve.


  62. @ David March 9, 2021 12:53 PM
    “Since when has Barbados referred to St. Vincent and Antigua has models?”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    We would say this to you in order to make our BU family physician and priest suffer both a myocardial infarction and mental infraction by quoting from his favourite ‘morality’ story book:

    “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

    But we can ‘understand’ why MAM would be most reluctant- despite any personal ‘conviction’ on (and love for) the herbal matter- to go the full moral distance to bring a level playing field in the marijuana game of moneyed interest thrones.

    After all ,decriminalization (far more its full legalization) would remove the associated high risks and hence the super profits from the lowly plant which could become as common as aloe vera being sold to tourists on the beach.

    Many of the ‘known’ associates would therefore have to up their game in extracting profits from other brands of psychoactive plants before accepting any invitation to the hallowed halls of law-making and breaking.

    Instead of trading in the lowly legalized naturally-growing green ganga stuff, they would have to shift their business model to the more upscale consumer market by trading in the imported and very costly refined ‘white snuff’.

    However, there could be a niche market for those are new to the marketplace and want to be a bit creatively entrepreneurial by dabbling with a new psychoactive kid on the block called Blue Morning (in full and high) Glory.

    Plus, what would the local boys in blue do on their many patrols in the ghettoes to collect the ‘medici’ share of the protection fees and where white collar crimes are as rare a rainbow at night!


  63. “But we can ‘understand’ why MAM would be most reluctant- despite any personal ‘conviction’ on (and love for) the herbal matter- to go the full moral distance to bring a level playing field in the marijuana game of moneyed interest thrones.”

    it was very clear from Day 1 that none of those TRAITORS wanted Black people to have or benefit from the plant, they SET UP from early so it wouldn’t happen…..now they got deteriorating health care and people dying because they can’t get surgeries…people are suffering and have been LONG BEFORE COVID….this is the knockon effect from what they did….Covid is not the cause, it’s many decades of mismanagement and outright corruption caused the decay in healthcare, the marijuana was an opportunity to reverse all that…until the FRAUDS decided that it’s too good for Black people and their only roles should be criminalized for the plant…..but when ya that hateful of ya own skin color, ya will pay DEARLY…


  64. The Hypocrisy is there for those to see when you look at the people in jail. Free up the prisoners so they can go home to their loved ones.

    The Weed Smoker’s Dream
    Sittin’ on a million
    Sittin’ on it every day
    Can’t make no money givin’ your stuff away
    Why don’t you do right
    Like the millionaires do
    Put your stuff on the market
    And make a million too
    Fay’s a betting woman
    She bets on every hand
    She’s a trickin’ mother for you everywhere she land
    Why don’t you do now
    Like the millionaires do
    Put your stuff on the market
    And make a million too
    May’s a good lookin’ frail
    She lives down by the jail
    On her back though she got hot stuff for sale
    Why don’t you do now
    Like the millionaires do
    Put your stuff on the market
    And make a million too
    Sittin’ on a million
    Sittin’ on it every day
    Can’t make no money giving your stuff away
    Why don’t you do now
    Like the millionaires do
    Put your stuff on the market
    And make a million too
    Put your stuff on the market
    And make a million too


  65. Chances are, being of mixed race and with both good looking parents, when Archie grows up to a young man, all de high society young women in Murca and Engerlund going be chasing the poor lad up and down.

    Good thing he don’t have to commit to attending functions, he going be too busy!!!


  66. Look, let us get to the root of the matter. Legalise the thing and stop messin about.

    Just restrict to personal use and not in a public place. Give the pharmacies license to sell it and ensure that anyone selling is a registered business, so taxes can be collected.


  67. @ Crusoe,

    I like it when you are serious and making interesting demands on BU, but I must admit I am not a fan of your ‘funny’side.
    When you are thinking you are a credit to BU. Barbadians are not a thinking people and often go for the quick answer. Cut out the cheap laughs. You are better than that.
    By the way, I dislike comedy.


    • What a pity. You will never have the pleasure (honour) of being referred to as a jolly old soul.


  68. That is why you are an old bore who cannot get anyone to visit your blog or take you up on your many many offers to “lecture” Barbadians on whatever subject you think you know best!

    A dull old bore who would suck all the joy out of life! A good thing this is David’s blog and you have no say in how we express ourselves.

    Up to Crusoe to let ypu tell him what to doon David’s blog!

    You are the only one complaining.

    And who the hell IS you?

    Nobody cares if you like comedy! WE like comedy! Look go bore your wife do!

    One miserable ass man wanting company!


  69. @ Crusoe March 10, 2021 7:21 AM
    “Look, let us get to the root of the matter. Legalise the thing and stop messin about.
    Just restrict to personal use and not in a public place. Give the pharmacies license to sell it and ensure that anyone selling is a registered business, so taxes can be collected.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Nice piece of imagery there!

    You mean treat to it like how the sale of alcohol (and cigarettes) is handled via the rum shops, super and mini-marts?

    How about those who don’t want to smoke the herb but to use it only as a ‘highly exotic’ addition to the domestic culinary fare?

    Would this option be in keeping with that old maxim on good health that: ‘An ounce (28 grammes) of prevention is worth more than a $1,000.00 visit to the doctor and pharmacist seeking after a quick fix for a cure?

    What keeps boggling the mind is that ‘high’ level of concern over the dispensing of the so-called legalized medicinal marijuana.

    Are we going to witness another apartheid system where only those with money can afford to buy this miracle herb called Nurse Mary Jane aka medicinal marijuana through a licensed drug pusher or would the government be prepared to foot the bill for those financially challenged as is done under the existing polyclinic free Health Service and National Drug Service financing arrangements?

    Would the method(s) of dispensing be in the form of cigarettes to light up and inhales or like rolled tobacco with a ‘compulsory’ packet of expensive high margins Bambú wrapping paper to go?

    Or would it presented in ‘measured’ doses in tiny bags to make herbal infusions like good old Chinese or Indian English tea?

    Or would this miracle-working psychoactive ‘wonder’ drug euphemistically called medicinal marijuana be classified as: ‘Not cultivated for local consumption: For Export Only’; similar to some ‘special’ rums (and fancy molasses) once produced in Bim?

    BTW, what plans do the producers of this economic lifesaver have for the by-products arising from the cultivation of the cannabis plant?

    Has the Minister of Agriculture considered this valuable recyclable waste matter in his long-winded deliberations?


  70. That is why you are an old bore who cannot get anyone to visit your blog or take you up on your many many offers to “lecture” Barbadians on whatever subject you think you know best!…..(Quote)

    ??????????????


  71. Government don’t deserve any tax for their role in criminalising a plant that God gave for the use of man

    Forward with Jah Orthodox
    And, back way with the Income Tax

    ◄ Psalm 104:14 ►
    He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

    Truth is I never bought into their bullshit

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnxpHIl5Ynw


  72. ◄ Psalm 104:13 ►
    He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.


  73. MillerMarch 10, 2021 1:45 PM

    I take your point. However, however it is marketed, revenue streams need to be taxed. Everyone else pays tax.

    This is how so many have become wealthy, during prohibition etc, when everyone else pays tax, others earn and pay nothing.

    So legalise with restrictions re near schools etc and move on with life.

    So much hand wringing without action.


  74. “Exploit herbal knowledge, reap benefits”
    All radical thinkers from Moses to Jesus to Bob Peter and Bunny (RIP) and conscious youths of today puff erb


  75. Miller..what can we say at least they are breaking it down for them..

    UK Government Report.
    Pfizer vaccine adverse reactions

    Execution date: March 4, 2021

    Blood disorders: 2,033
    Cardiac disorders: 1,032
    Congenital disorders: 3
    Hearing disorders: 713
    Endocrine disorders: 10
    Eye disorders: 1,242 (12 blinds)
    Gastrointestinal disorders: 9,360
    General disorders: 26,391
    Liver disorders: 17
    Immune system disorders: 466
    Infections: 1,863
    Injuries: 393
    Continued Investigations: 965
    Metabolic disorders: 525
    Muscle-tissue disorders: 11,565
    Neoplasms: 20
    Nervous System Disorders: 16,107
    Associated with pregnancy: 29
    Psychiatric disorders: 1,235
    Renal / urinary disorder: 187
    Syst. Reproductive: 338
    Respiratory disorders: 3,575
    Skin disorder: 6,042
    Vascular disorders: 992
    Dead: 212
    Medical and Surgical Procedures: 45

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions
    🚩What’s disturbing is this is a weekly report😳


  76. @ Crusoe March 11, 2021 6:10 PM
    “Miller March 10, 2021 1:45 PM
    I take your point. However, however it is marketed, revenue streams need to be taxed. Everyone else pays tax.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The only way marijuana can be taxed as a ‘sinful’ activity, like rum drinking and cigarette smoking, is if it is decriminalized and subsequently legalized like her Cinderella twin sister now ‘Christened’ the medicinal (k)night nurse Chantal Monroe.

    But the challenge still remains about how to tax the home-grown brand.

    If it being grown for domestic culinary consumption why tax it if the policy objective is to improve the eating habits and general health of the nation?

    Any ‘potential losses’ in expected revenue from this healthy source could be recouped by way of a tax on those establishments which sell the unhealthy equivalent in the form of processed fatty salty fast food.

    If the home-grown brand is going to be used predominantly for smoking (as is currently the case) why not tax the imported paraphernalia at justifiably high rates (customs duties &VAT with stiff penalties for attempted evasion) which is used to facilitate that ‘dangerous’ smoking habit?

    The only drawback to any imaginatively alternative proposal to the indirect taxation regime ‘governing’ the current list of ‘dangerous-to-human’ health substances is the fight back expected to arise from the vested alcoholic drinks producers, importers and distributors ‘soberly’ lobbying behind the scenes to protect their turf of big profits


  77. “This is how so many have become wealthy, during prohibition etc, when everyone else pays tax, others earn and pay nothing.”

    how bout when everyone else pays taxes and IT’S STOLEN…hint, hint the 1 BILLION dollars in VAT..

    Miller..by the time they’re done arguing among themselves about how to ROB THE POPULATION of the marijuana, the world and even the people they’re planning to rob would have MOVED ON to something better……ah won’t even tell them a thing….they deserve no less…they will be the only ones WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS…they are too greedy, covetous and badminded.


  78. Ganja – joke or serious?
    I FIRST HEARD of ganja in 1958 when I went to Jamaica. It was an item bandied around the student blocks with which everybody seemed familiar and many people smoked. It was easy for me to acquire some – even a chillum pipe. So I tried the stuff. It made me cough a few times, but not being a smoker, it did nothing to me.
    The second encounter with ganja was when a friend told me that it was good for the flu. He assured me that he used it and supplied me with some. He told me to soak the ganja in a bottle of white rum and use a spoonful of the liquid whenever I have the flu – even give it to the children. Ever since then while living in Jamaica I would have a bottle of white rum with ganja soaking for any sign of the flu. I dare not have ganja in my house in Barbados.
    My next close encounter with ganja was when I was building a home in Jamaica. The man who did the tiling was a chain ganja smoker. He threw away the ends of the spliffs while doing his job. Lo and behold ganja sprung up all over my property a few months after I moved in.
    When I came to Barbados and built a home, I had to change the windows. I remembered a workshop in Jamaica that built beautiful windows. So I gave the workshop the job of building the windows. I made several visits to the workshop and at the time spent a long period making sure that the job was being done right. On the last occasion that I visited, I came away feeling high and sweet – a feeling of euphoria that I had never felt before. My head was in the clouds. It reminded me of a time when the warden of Taylor Hall, at the Mona Campus, UWI invited residents of the hall to a cocktail party and plied us with sweet sherry. I did not like feeling of out of control, so I have stayed away from ganja, sherry and all forms of alcohol except beer, which I find refreshing after a game of rugby.
    That is my story, but I am rather confused. Some people like being out of control. It may come from spirits, rum, whisky, wine. Some people like the feeling of calm from cigarettes. It is part of the freedom of the individual. There was a time when Government had a say in the proliferation of the mentioned commodities. Now Government is debating a say in the use of ganja. But I predict that there will be much controversy. Government has promised a referendum. I would predict that it would lose.
    Just as prior Governments had to scrap any plans for a referendum on casinos – even offshore, they will face the hostility of the preachers. There is no comparison when faced with the opposition of the pulpits. And you know that there are many and varied pulpits in Barbados. Some offer messages daily, some weekly and many in between. Judging from the way this writer was pilloried for daring to write about the “concept of sin”, the noises from the platforms will be ceaseless.
    That is not all. Where is the fairness between a mogul cultivating ten acres to be used for growing ganja for medicinal experimentation (and starting a business venture) and a man making herb tea to calm his arthritis if having ganja is illegal? It is a platitude to give the police permission to give a youngster a ticket for having a spliffs to pay $200 and avoid a blemish on his character. How do you differentiate between a person without locks that says that he is smoking ganja for religious reasons but is not a Rastafari? So far the Rastafari community has put up a reasonable argument contending that ganja has been central to their religion for ages and if legalising it now paved the way for financial exploitation, then consideration should be given to them to exploit the growing of ganja for reasons other than religious.
    In any case people who say that smoking ganja affects one’s judgment should realise that drinking alcohol could have the same affect.
    Perhaps Government now sees the tax relationship with the legalisation of the weed.
    Should we then review all those cases where people are in the penitentiary serving time for one problem or another? What about the blemish on their character?
    Harry Russell is a banker.

    Source: Nation


  79. Miller….i just saw a CDC database of deaths for pfizer, moderna and whomever. I never hear marijuana kill nobody yet.

    “⚡️UPDATE: France suspends the AstraZeneca vaccine, president Emmanuel Macron has announced. The country joins the likes of Italy and Germany to suspend AZ jabs, following a wave of other nations around Europe.

    Italy has also seized almost 400,000 shots of the vaccine after the death of a man on Saturday.’


  80. Human rights violations against Black/African people in Barbados must take center stage…no black government must ever get away with violating Black rights going forward without WRATH BEING BROUGHT DOWN ON THEIR EVIL HEADS…..11 plus frauds with useless degrees and pedigree (dog food) should have NO SAY in Black lives after what they did…for 54 years…

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/19/rastafari-want-reparation-and-a-slice-of-the-medical-marijuana-pie/

    The Rastafari community says it is prepared to turn up the heat on Government over several issues it claims are in violation of human rights.

    At the same time, the Rastafari Progressive Movement (RPM) is making a case for reparation for Rastafari from Government and at least a quarter of the profits from the local medicinal cannabis industry.

    This comes as the group expressed growing concern about a recent land lease in St John to a section of the minority group, proposed changes to the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act and what it feared could be forced vaccination in the not-too-distant future.

    Speaking at a media conference on Thursday at the Bongo Lights Culture Place in The City, Public Relations Officer of the RPM Paul Ras Simba Rock said the move by Government to amend the drug abuse law so that individuals would be fined $200 to be paid in 30 days instead of being dragged before the court was simply hypocritical, still oppressive and unjust.

    Rock, who is the President of the African Heritage Foundation, was supported by representatives of several other Rastafari groups that are members of RPM.

    Stating that Rastas were not prepared to pay the fine, he said “we will fight it in court to the highest level”.

    It was on that note that Rock called for Rastafari reparations, saying that they have been oppressed for years as a result of laws, which he said were in need of urgent change.”


  81. Drug bill flawed, says Franklyn
    Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn has told Government to “wheel and come again” with the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Bill.
    Calling the measure “bad, flawed and not sensible”, he said Government was allowing something that would damage the minds of adolescents.
    “The bill is not helping the situation. We will end up with a lot of young people under 18 years at the Psychiatric Hospital.”
    Earlier, Senator Jerome Walcott, in leading off the debate in the Senate, acknowledged studies had shown the negative effects in adolescents with the use of cannabis and marijuana. However, he said the bill will enable those under 18 who are charged for the offence of having the drug illegally to be sent to the National Council on Substance Abuse for rehabilitation”.
    Walcott said the amendment sought to deal with small quantities (14 grammes and under) where those caught with the drug would be fined $200, and after a rehab programme was completed and fine paid, their records would be expunged.
    “It is time for us to move forward. Section 6 lists process of payment and penalties . . . . [We’re] not saying that anyone can do as they like as it relates to cannabis and marijuana, but those small quantities can be dealt with at that point,” he said.
    Walcott said current laws were failing to deter use of the drug, citing statistics showing that in 2019 there were 4 295 drug-related offences with 534 people charged. He said bringing some of those cases to court was a waste of precious manpower by law enforcement officers who had to investigate, process and then go to trial.
    Franklyn said the fine and rehab were the only “positive” thing about the bill.
    “The expunging will see lots of young people not having a criminal record and so that will not hurt their chances of getting a job. We were young once and know temptation and lots of us made bad choices. Young men make mistakes and they see older people doing it, so they do it too,” he said.
    However, he asked if police would now “walk with a kit to determine if what you are smoking isn’t breadfruit leaves. Will they walk with a scale to weigh if it is 14 grammes or more? How will this work? Police are also asked to now determine who will go to Verdun House . . . . Are they now analysts or psychiatrists? If so, then they need to agitate for more pay seeing they are taking on new roles”. ( NS)

    Source: Nation


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