Will the great marijuana debate go up in smoke?

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]hould Saint Lucia legalize cannabis? This was the question posed at a public debate organized on Wednesday by the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the local Bar Association. Team one, featuring Dr. Stephen King and attorney Maurice Compton argued for legalization. Arguing for the other side were bartender Yohann Willix and dentist Tris-Ann Richards.

Said Dr. King: “For me, the answer is simple. Yes, we must legalize. The question is not whether we should or should not, the question is how. The current regime is harmful. We have unregulated products, we have harmful use of many of these products, we have a criminal environment that breeds violence, and in fact criminals are enriched in the current environment. If we were to decriminalize, we would not address some of the fundamental issues such as the criminal networks and the unregulated products. Therefore we must legalize.”

Dr. King cited the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana, and the Health Effects of Cannabis and Caneboids report. He indicated: “There’s substantial evidence that cannabis can be used for pain, nausea, vomiting and arthritis. We can use cannabis in sleep disorders, seizures, anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress, to prevent psychosis, glaucoma and for cancer.”

King defined a good legal regime as one that “minimizes harm, maximizes benefit, reduces violence, improves health, increases wealth and reduces social inequality.” To achieve this, he advised, “we must ensure a regulated product with regulated THC ratios, with product labeling and information, prevent adolescent use, establish a minimum age for use, establish robust social drug rehabilitation services, limit public smoking and provide effective education programs” among others.

He said: “My appeal to you is to open your mind, reject the propaganda that has been pushed at us for years. Let science guide you. You need to reject the status quo that creates more harm than the substance itself creates.”

For his part, Dr. King’s teammate noted: “The police will tell you that the criminality is not from the use of cannabis but from the protecting of turf. Crime in this region is not the prevalence of the drug use lifestyle but the drug trade itself. Laws in the region are all similar; some call them draconian. In Guyana, recently, there was a public outcry when a young husband got three years in jail for eight grams of cannabis. Now some laws do allow for fines, instead of imprisonment, but the statistics are showing you that typically low-income persons are the ones being arrested and fined. So when one cannot afford the fine, I call it the double negative. They cannot afford the fine, the state gets no revenue, so they end up in jail.”

Compton noted that legalization must ensure that the island puts measures in place to protect local interests. “Studies are showing the varieties of cannabis in this region are superior and of unique quality. Interest by large foreign companies to acquire stakes in our seeds and related materials will be exploited if we do not protect them, without any adequate benefit to us. Before you know it, we’ll have large companies here with patents of regional substances.”

He argued that the ideal model for legislation will place emphasis on public health, citizen security and the economic benefits. Cannabis in private homes would be permitted but banned in public.

With the majority of the crowd in attendance in favor of legalization, team two faced a hard road. Ms. Tris Ann- Richards argued that “marijuana has several effects on the brain, some include, but are not limited to, impaired memory, altered senses, and hallucinations. There are also studies that have shown marijuana usage at an early age can affect brain development and lower IQ. Being in the dental field, I can tell you that smoking marijuana also causes gum disease.”

While she acknowledged that cannabis has many benefits, she insisted the country is not equipped at this time for legalization. “Saint Lucia has shown such poor management and regulation of our current industries that are so much easier to control, far less a cannabis industry. I will rescind my point if you can show me one industry in Saint Lucia that is properly managed, regulated and is also owned by Saint Lucians.”

She is convinced that the legalizing of cannabis will lead to an increase in criminal activities through the guns and drugs trade, and pointed out that the Association of Caribbean Police Chiefs has cited the drugs-for-guns trade as one of the leading causes of crime in CARICOM nations, and provides funding for criminal gangs.”

Yohann Willix had some questions: “Can it be said, without reasonable doubt, that all establishments that serve alcohol in Saint Lucia are licensed? Can it be stated that all establishments that serve alcohol request IDs from some patrons? Fair Helen has a lot of cleaning up to do before we can invite another vice. The nation needs to place emphasis on fixing what’s already broken; the nation needs to enforce the neglected laws it abandoned and rendered impotent.”