The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

EXUMA and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper called last week for the legalisation of medical marijuana along with the decriminalisation of small amounts of its recreational use.

The Tribune interviewed a number of people who expressed mixed views concerning the possible revision of cannabis policies in the country.

O’Neil Mitchell, 45, of Cowpen Road said: “As a Christian I’ll have to disagree because anything that is going to distort your thinking I say no. In terms of medical marijuana, if it’s going to help you heal [then] yes. I don’t do drugs and I wouldn’t advise nobody else to do drugs. It appears that’s the drugs nowadays have something in them that totally rearrange your thinking, your facial features and everything else.

“I don’t agree [with the decriminalisation for minor amounts] because if you are smoking in your home you wouldn’t be charged. If you are caught breaking the law in public, you should face the consequences of your actions. After a certain amount of time your record is expunged, I believe [the time period] is seven years. Well in your youth you do a lot of dumb things, so the older you get the wiser you become. So in those seven years you could reflect on the dumb choices you have made and then moving forward after your record is expunged, you probably won’t do it again.”

Addington Cambridge, 64, of Golden Gates said: “I don’t think that it should be legalised because it is proven now that the young people today, when they get any type of drugs into their heads, they simply feel as if though they are super humans and that they can do anything. They are not responsible.

“Maybe later on down the years when the younger generations show that they are more responsible we can look at that, but to legalise marijuana for social and recreational use, I say no. For medical reasons, I have no problem and even that has to be regularised very closely. But for social or personal use, no it cannot be done. If Mr Minnis is actually thinking of doing that it just shows that he himself is not aware of what’s going on in this country. It was law then that if you have marijuana on you — don’t care what amount — you would have to go to jail, so let them serve their term up there.”

Etienne McKenzie, 35, of West Bay Street, said: “I didn’t hear his [MP Chester Cooper’s] exact statements, but I do know that part of being a citizen is abiding by the laws. So if something is illegal when you commit a crime, then you have to pay the penalty for it. As for the legalisation of medical marijuana, I support it because as a drug it wouldn’t be any more dangerous than Panadol. As I stated, it is a part of the law so there has to be a penalty. But I do think that we may be overdoing the penalty for maybe the purposes of complying with international pressures.”

John Forde, of Fort Fincastle, said: “I do agree because if marijuana is categorised as something for a medical concern it should be put in place one hundred percent. Alcohol is the worst drug in the world. Throughout the world, if one would check the statistics, more people die from alcohol more than any other drugs in the world. I think it’s better on both governments not to put somebody in prison for one or two joints. That’s terrible and that’s demoralising also.

“I think it’s real bad for somebody to be locked up for a joint or two and it goes on their record. Honestly to me, it’s not fair. I feel like if somebody has been caught with a joint they could do community work. Why put all these young children up in prison for a joint or two? What sense does it make?”

One store manager who requested anonymity said: “It’s a good and a bad side in a way, but what I would say if someone’s caught with one joint, I would let them go, but if it’s someone who’s pushing thousands of pounds and hundreds of dollars of it, they should get penalised for it. But as far as them smoking it, I think that’s better for them to smoke than drink because drinking does alter your mind more than marijuana. So I think they should clear a young boy’s record if they were caught with just a small amount.”

Tanoya Gaitor, 30, said: “I strongly agree [with Mr Cooper’s statements] not only [regarding] medical marijuana, but [also recreational cannabis] once it’s in small use, and once it isn’t an abusive substance where they’re selling it in large quantities. I would agree because some guys, it’s going on their records and they are considered criminals even though they are not harming anybody. [The current policy] is targeting a lot of guys, especially black guys, because of their circumstances and where they come from, the ghetto, they tend to smoke more and the police are quick to pick them up for any little thing. It doesn’t really give them a chance to do anything in life. [Concerning] medical marijuana, I think it would be different because it’s prescribed. So I think if the doctor recommends it, then the doctor knows best.”

The Minnis administration created the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana (BNCM) to investigate and report on Bahamians’ views on cannabis. The group was expected to submit its first draft on Bahamian attitudes on the controversial plant— the first step in a larger debate on the prohibition of medical and recreational use — this month. However, the commission has been granted a three-month extension.

The Regional Commission on Marijuana, which presented a report to CARICOM on the social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding marijuana in the region last year, recommended that in a regulated framework, marijuana should be treated like tobacco and alcohol.