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Bermuda: Cannabis Reform Debate In House Of Assembly
Bernews Monday 02 Jun 2014 The debate started out with Premier and Minister of National Security Michael Dunkley saying, “I think is important to reiterate that the Government’s public undertaking has related to decriminalization and any potential wider use of cannabis. “Let me indicate early in this debate that at this time, the Government is not prepared to consider personal cultivation, licenses for commercial cultivation and sale or blanket legalization of cannabis. Insofar as this report recommends those things, they do not represent this Government’s current intentions.” PLP MP Zane DeSilva, who admitted smoking cannabis in his younger years, also spoke about searching cruise ships. “Cruise ship passengers are known to smoke weed,” said Mr. DeSilva. “If they want to smoke weed on the ship, let them, don’t go up on the ship looking for them. Now they bring their weed off the ship and they get caught, well take your licks.” OBA MP Leah Scott said, “My son started smoking marijuana at the age of 14. He started selling it at the age of 17. He was in his room and he had a bag of marijuana and a bag of – not a bag, but a twist – of cocaine. “And he said, “what am I going to do today? Am I going to smoke marijuana or am I going to smoke crack?” He chose the crack. He now sits in jail for 18 years because of his decision. “Do I think marijuana is a gateway drug? I’m not sure. I think it lead to a bad choice for my son; I don’t know what it does for other people. “I think that decriminalization could be a good thing, but I think that it has to be done in stages. I think that we have to really look at it. I think that we have to look at the social impact that marijuana has had on our community. And I think that medicinally, it can have some benefits.” Excerpt of OBA MP Leah Scott speaking in the House on Friday PLP MP Michael Weeks said as a young man he “dabbled in the smoking of marijuana,” and said he was lucky, while he has friends who were not so lucky and were caught and prosecuted. OBA MP Glen Smith, who also admitted trying cannabis when he was young, said prohibition hasn’t worked for centuries whether it be alcohol, tobacco or cannabis. Minister Shawn Crockwell said that if there was a referendum on legalizing marijuana it would have the largest turnout of any election, by-election or referendum we have ever had. “Talk about having a good voter registration drive,” said Minister Crockwell. “People would be going to register to vote like you have never seen before. And we do not even have to guess how that referendum will turn out.” Independent MP Terry Lister said, “Maybe 3,000 people, and I quote that number out of the air, on the stop list – how many of those on that stop list are there because they were caught importing drugs into Bermuda? How many are on that stop list because they were caught distributing drugs around Bermuda? “And so you see when you start to put people into categories, you may find that the actual number of people who are going to be affected by a change here could be very small. And, in fact, that would be encouraging rather than discouraging. “What we want to be able to do is to move into a decriminalization area that will result in young people who really do have potential – and I think all do because some are going to be academics, some are going to be trades, some are going to be technicians – they all need to go away to get some form of training, they all need the chance to grow up outside this little fish hole called Bermuda.” Excerpt of IND MP Terry Lister speaking in the House on Friday OBA MP Jeff Sousa said, “Personally, I am very supportive of decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis for personal use. I want to make that very clear. “We’ve all heard in the past, President Bill Jefferson Clinton state that he had smoked cannabis but he hadn’t inhaled; I want to say quite clearly, I did inhale.” Opposition Leader Marc Bean said that he is a proponent of legalization with a “light touch” of regulation. He said increased revenue from taxation would be a benefit, and also added that he has seen the benefits of medicinal use of cannabis first hand with both his father and daughter. Mr. Bean said, “When my daughter was three years old, because of the circumstances I didn’t have much opportunity to spend time with her up until she reached about two-and-a-half, three, but I always was told she suffers from asthma. Severely. “The first opportunity I had my daughter — who is now going 20 years old — the first opportunity I had her in my care and custody, I went and made her a big cup of ganja tea. At two-and-a-half….three years old. “Now some of you might be saying that’s irresponsible as a parent, but you can go ask her mother and her family on her mother’s side today. Since that day she has never, ever suffered from asthma. Since that one day, that one cup of cannabis tea. So you can’t tell me the medicinal use of it.” Excerpt of Mr Bean speaking in the House on Friday PLP MP Glenn Blakeney said, “Everyone seems to be walking and treading very, very lightly and trying to be politically correct and we’ve had some admissions with regard to past involvement or whatever, whatever. “But you know what the real question is? What truly is the political will? What is the political will of the country? What is the political will of the key stakeholders, the people that we serve? Mr Blakeney added that he doesn’t think we should have any tolerance on the hard drugs. Premier Dunkley’s full statement follows below: Mr. Speaker, the Motion before this Honourable House invites the Honourable Members to take note of the Report of the Cannabis Reform Collaborative. On its face, this is a simple Motion in support of another Report. However, Mr. Speaker, the debate in this Honourable House today is one that joins Bermuda with many other countries who have wrestled with the issue of cannabis reform. Even considering this issue has the ability to provoke strong feelings. Honourable Members will be affected and influenced by core values grounded in religious faith, cultural traditions, personal and professional experiences as well as the societal discomfort that accompanies any potential for change. Mr. Speaker, none of these factors should cause Honourable Members to shy away from a full expression of their views because it is precisely for these reasons that each of us was elected to this Honourable House. Our constituents expect for us, in representing them, to bring to bear all of our experience and thoughtful consideration to debate and to consult with them as part of our public service. Mr. Speaker, today’s debate is an opportunity to reflect on the research provided and the recommendations made. It is also an opportunity for the people of Bermuda to understand exactly where their representatives stand on some of the thorny issues that surround the reform of our cannabis laws. http://bernews.com/2014/06/parliamentarians-debate-cannabis-reform-report/
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