Former Belize Police Minister and current Chairman of the Social Security Board Douglas Singh.
The government of Belize is spearheading an initiative to decriminalize marijuana. An official press release issued late today says that a committee chaired by former police minister Douglas Singh, is inviting proposals on how to move ahead with plans to make this common herb legal for personal use in Belize. Marijuana grows wild in Belize and is used by a portion of the population but penalties are stiff and often lead to jail time even for first time offenders. The press release says:
“A committee has been appointed by the Minister of National Security to evaluate and, if appropriate, make proposals for the decriminalization of the possession of small portions of Cannabis Sativa (commonly known as Marijuana and Weed).
“For the purpose of this exercise, the word decriminalization means that the treatment of the infraction will be adjusted so that most of the detriments are removed or reduced. The offense will then be subject to regulation which will allow for the implementation of probationary measures. It is also proposed that no criminal record be kept in the first instance and portions of the penalty be reserved for drug education.
“The current legislation treats the possession of under 60 grams of marijuana as a criminal offence and is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to three years imprisonment. This proposal is to decriminalize the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana which will then be subject to fines, mandatory drug education and no imprisonment.
This initiative is driven by increasing evidence that the current legislation clutters the courts and the prison with primarily a marginalized segment of our population. The added impact of a permanent criminal record further disadvantages this already marginalized group as it establishes a barrier against meaningful employment. The committee wishes to emphasize that the proposal is not to legalize the offence thereby purging it of all its penalties; it is merely to reduce and regulate. This is further supported by international trends towards decriminalization.
“The Committee recognizes that the instant proposal for the decriminalization of small quantities of Marijuana is a sensitive issue. All interested groups and individuals are hereby given an opportunity to express their views on the matter. The committee
invites you to offer a position in writing by letter or email. Please direct such correspondence to:
Douglas Singh – Committee Chair
decriminalizebelize@gmail.com
# 1 Mapp Street
Belize City, Belize
“We would be grateful to receive your comments by Friday July 20. If you wish to make representation to the committee please indicate in your written response and we will be pleased to accommodate your request.”
Prohibiting a plant that has thousands of years of medicinal use is OUTRAGEOUS. Specially a plant that reduces human violence, and has hundreds of medicinal uses.
A great idea for Belize. I know their economy has a large tourism base, and cannabis use is very widespread worldwide. Welcome to the 21st century, I hope the United States and the rest of the Americas will follow your lead soon…
The great and sensible policy move Belize is considering to decriminalize cannabis is what the world needs to eventually end the insanity set off by it’s prohibition.
MARIJUANA = MORE PROBLEMS — WE DON’T NEED THAT HERE IN BELIZE
Marijuana’s prohibition has ALWAYS been rooted in hate, paranoia, racism, misinformation, half-truths, and outright lies. It’s your right to disagree, just try to do it factually and with less lies, hate & abuse. Everyone of us has had enough time to see through, and disregard, the BS, hate and lies we’ve already heard a million times. They were BS, hate and lies then, they are BS, hate and lies now.
There is NO debate. Marijuana is absolutely safer than alcohol, tobacco, or even most, of our over-the-counter “medicines”. Prohibition, on the other hand, is a costly nightmare that only enriches criminals and corrupt politicians. Millions of people are already using marijuana, legal or not. What many sane people are proposing is to take the criminal aspect out of it and collect revenues from its sale instead of spending millions of precious tax dollars on doomed-to-failure enforcement.
This man speaks with wisdom, and the group in the US called ‘Baby Boomers’ are watching and hoping Belize moves toward freedom for all, a large group of financially secure, productive, and socially valuable citizens could very well make Belize their home and bring with them a positive influence…it is a ‘win/win’ for Belize,
thank you
In my country it is illegal even a small gram of this precious herb. You may go to jail for 45 years.
I can’t imagine that to legalise marijuana it will pervert the Belizean people.
I have traveled to Belize many times over a 25 year period. I have noticed the crime rate to be getting worse and worse. What a shame. It is such a beautiful country. The last cruise I took, one of the stops was Belize. We were told by the ships security not to get off the ship. I guess it’s worse than I thought. What a shame that you have to resort to making pot legal as the only way to bring in visitors. The kind of visitors you will bring in will only make it worse, not help it. It is an entry level drug to use even worse drugs. It’s time for the Belize politicians to wise up and do the right thing!
ummm, you guys do know marihuana (“pot”) is actually good for your health right? That the prohibition of the last 100 years is a strange hiccup in thousands of years of worldwide use. It’s not an entry level drug. Studies show the entry level drug is alcohol. Any “entry level effect” is due to it being illegal, and therefore in proximity to harder drugs. Make it legal and you can buy it in a store, not from some criminal.
Weekend newspapers filled us in; to the trick of the current so-called consultation on changes proposed to the marijuana sentencing laws. The government is not consulting the public. They are basically telling us what they are going to do.
Apparently the prison population is too much and too expensive, on small amounts of marijuana for personal use. So the idea of this consultation being jammed down our throats, to quiet those of us who clamor for removal of Indian Hemp product criminal laws; is to snow us under with a smokescreen. The government’s mind is made up, and weekend newspapers clarify, that the intent of the government of Belize, is solely to subtract prison sentences for small personal amounts of marijuana and instead substitute, parole, and some kind of counseling classes to those apprehended. Paid for by the victims of this nonsense.
The object of the new criminal laws, will be to reverse the cost of incarcerating smokers of the herb in the National Prison system at an expense to government, and instead create a revenue stream by hiring more bureaucrats ( providing more government financed jobs ) to teach classes, for marijuana smokers to reform. FAT CHANCE OF THAT. Going to be another academic intelligentsia, salaried ne’er do well, bureaucratic boondoggle, looks like.
Marijuana grows naturally in Belize. Hard working farmers have been brought to jail because there have been plants found on their property they did not even know about. This is an injustice.
Portugal decriminalized drugs 11 years ago, and it has had incredibly positive effects.
The resulting effect: a drastic reduction in addicts, with Portuguese officials and reports highlighting that this number, at 100,000 before the new policy was enacted, has been halved in the following ten years. Portugal’s drug usage rates are now among the lowest of EU member states, according to the same report.
One more outcome: a lot less sick people. Drug related diseases including STDs and overdoses have been reduced even more than usage rates, which experts believe is the result of the government offering treatment with no threat of legal ramifications to addicts.
While this policy is by no means news, the statistics and figures, which take years to develop and subsequently depict the effects of the change, seem to be worth noting. In a country like America, which may take the philosophy of criminalization a bit far (more than half of America’s federal inmates are in prison on drug convictions), other alternatives must, and to a small degree, are being discussed.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decriminalization-works-2012-7#ixzz20vKBpYux
Do the right thing! Decriminalize!
Ha!! Problem!! Problem!! Competition!! Competition!! Imagine each gang member have their amount and selling it and as soon as that is finish they go back for another amount and it goes on and on. GUN WAR.
I have a 13year old attending high school. In December of last while they were having their funday, the school warden notice a student and another person outside of the fence. The warden went to investigate as they were looking suspicious. The student then hop the fen but noticed that he had dropped something in the grass.
There was also an odor coming from there and it was weed. The warden then went and told the vice principal who then went and investigate only to find that that bag had in weed. He had brought it to school to sell to other student.
Now my child attends that high school and for them to have bring that to school for profit it was wrong. I don’t know who it is or what purpose it will serve to legalize marijuana? How in this world and in this time will that help curb crime? For me and my family we say No to legalizing any amount of marijuana.
Carol, you were worried that the man who ran off was going to sell pot to your child, but you don’t understand what we are really saying. Pot is a plant that grows wild everywhere on the planet (even cold countries like Denmark), and if it wasn’t for the millions of tax dollars being spent on spraying and eradicating it, it wouldn’t need to be sold, because it would be all around us for anyone to use how they like. That is God’s will – he did not make the planet wrongly! Go against that at your peril!
I strongly believe that legalizing marijuana will turn us into living zombies…I was once a student ..
and attending school was somewhat of a challenge for me and I still overcame these obstacles for me to graduate.. And now here comes marijuana to be legalized students will now be going to school high give more trouble an the future will then be a disaster… If we are the future then what the government is trying to do to us … physically an mentally enslave us… No to Marijuana ..King
If marijuana were legal, like alcohol and tobacco it would be much easier to control access. It would be sold in a store to legal aged adults, not on a street corner or playground as it is now. The huge profit that dealers now make would vanish as would illegal sales. Please think long and hard about this from different perspectives before you make a hasty choice, which could continue the killings and make the black market even stronger….