LEGALIZING MARIJUANA CAN IMPOVERISH. Kareem Musa, Belize Minister of New Growth Industries, held a Zoom “Town Hall Meeting” on January 27. It concerned legalizing marijuana. But unlike normal town meetings, the panel did not allow comments against legalization to be heard.
Instead, they spoke as if it was a done deal. The meeting mostly addressed how to make marijuana most profitable. But here’s how it could actually further impoverish Belize, while making foreigners rich:
- Marijuana crops damage the soil, making it unfit for other kinds of agriculture. Let Belize feed itself first!
- Any surplus that Belizeans can’t export could easily go into a dangerous black market.
- Regulation of “every single transaction” won’t work if vendors hide some business or bribe regulators. In tough economic times, sad to say, many find it hard to resist bribes.
- In other countries which have legalized weed, such as Portugal, big money foreigners have taken over legal “front door” marijuana businesses. Then they have sold illegal hard drugs out the back door. Moreover, they became too powerful for Portugal to change its policy.
- Mexican drug cartels are looking to expand their business. The bigger the weed business in Belize, the more the drug cartels would want to take over. And our small Belize Defence Force isn’t strong enough to stop them. Also, the cartels would bring more crime and violence with them.
- Our Financial Intelligence Unit tells us that big money foreigners engage in money laundering that is hard to detect. Because they have done this so easily here, Belize has lost correspondent banking relationships with international banks. That limits our ability to import and export.
Do we want our economy to suffer more?
Belize is already suffering steep economic decline from the pandemic and Covid lockdowns. Legalizing marijuana would mean a big step onto another steep slippery slope. And that would be hard to reverse.
We have much to lose morally, health-wise and economically. Worst of all, the far-easier availability of weed—and the harder drugs that would come with it—would do great harm to our youth.
Because any kind of weed habit impairs their critical thinking, problem solving and memory. So are we going to sacrifice our children for financial gain, that would mainly go into foreigners’ pockets?
ETG articles related to Legalizing Marijuana Can Impoverish:
Marijuana-Financed Education—Blessing or Curse?
BPN articles related to Legalizing Marijuana Can Impoverish:
Marijuana-Financed Education—Blessing or Curse?
Raising Standards in Belize- an Evangelical Manifesto
Related sources for Legalizing Marijuana Can Impoverish:
Virtual Town Hall on Cannabis and Hemp Industry
Keyphrase: Legalizing Marijuana Can Impoverish
