If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been hearing a lot lately about weed legalization in the Bahamas. From full-on legalization to decriminalizing possession for personal use, there are a lot of different and somewhat confusing options being floated. We want to break it all down for you as best we can so that you can make an informed decision about what’s best for your situation. Weed legalization bahamas is the answer for you. So when are we going to legalize weed in the Bahamas? The possession of small quantities of marijuana (10 grams or less) was decriminalized by law in 2010 and there was a huge outcry from lawyers from the government calling for it to be legalized. However, until further notice, possession shall be allowed for persons over 21 years old only with a doctor’s prescription. With a little bit of research, it’s easy to see why many Bahamians are in favor of legalizing marijuana — the criminalization is expensive and ineffective, it disproportionately targets minorities, and prohibition has always been difficult to enforce.
Lessons That Will Teach You All You Need To Know About Weed Legalization Bahamas :
1. Weed legalization bahamas is a popular idea
It’s hard to overstate just how massively popular weed legalization is in the Bahamas. The public sentiment polls very strongly, and while there are still some vocal tobacco companies lobbying hard against it, the government is more than happy to keep an open mind. So if you want to vote for a country that supports marijuana legalization, then you should make sure you register to vote. Participants in a recent poll conducted by Global News called “What Do You Think About Legalizing Marijuana?” put it at 73%, and those who voted “Yes” were overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing marijuana. That still leaves almost 27% who said they DID NOT want to legalize marijuana. Interestingly, only 15% of those who did not want marijuana to be legalized said that they used marijuana.
2. Current laws are fiscally unworkable and counterproductive
As we mentioned above, the current laws on the books require that Bahamians do everything strictly by the book to be allowed to possess even small amounts of marijuana. That’s a lot of hassle, especially for those with a low-income or a criminal record. If you are looking at this issue from a fiscal point of view, it’s easy to see how putting in all that extra effort is not worthwhile — especially when you consider how expensive it would be to go around arresting and imprisoning people who have committed no crime whatsoever.
3. Black market marijuana sells for twice as much as state-grown product
If you are paying $100 for a bag of weed from a dealer, that’s $200 you could have easily spent on something of higher value instead. Having such a large black market makes the job of policing the whole thing doubly difficult and costly.
4. One day we might need weed legalization bahamas to keep out drug dealers and gangs
Weed is available in most parts of the Bahamas — it’s just usually more expensive than buying it on the street or over the counter at a pharmacy. But with the black market, it’s easy to see how a gang or drug dealer could reap the profits — and turning a massive profit is important to them. It’s impossible to say that legalizing marijuana will keep out drug dealers and gangs, but it would be nice if we could at least cut down on their number – especially when so many of them are not even Bahamians.
5. We spend around $68 Million dollars in order to completely fail at legalization
For a country of just 57,000 people, we spend quite a bit of money on trying to enforce prohibition laws. The stats from the National Drug Unit show that over 15% of the population is incarcerated for some type of drug law violations — and that does not include all the high school or college kids who are caught with weed or other drugs. That’s a lot of people whose lives are being destroyed over something that is usually a victimless crime. If you can do away with all those unnecessary prison sentences and arrests, then there is no reason at all why we shouldn’t legalize marijuana.
6. The most recent suggestions for decriminalization are a great start
After years of tough love, the government has decided to try to approach marijuana laws with an open mind. Earlier this year, the government released policy paper No. 6 which included a section on decriminalization of marijuana possession. The paper recommended that the government take steps to decriminalize possession of any amount of marijuana by individuals 21 years old and older, while simultaneously restricting its use to medical purposes.
That’s a great start, and it’s encouraging that the government is willing to consider the drastic steps necessary if they want to legalize marijuana completely. It’s worth noting that this has no real bearing on the actual possibility of weed legalization in the Bahamas. It is just an attempt by government officials to come up with some sound ideas on how they can move forward if they decide that they want to do away with prohibition altogether.
