Pubdate: Fri, 03 Aug 2012
Source: Reporter, The (Belize)
Copyright: 2012 The Reporter Belize
Contact: http://www.reporter.bz/contact-us/
Website: http://www.reporter.bz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4991

DECRIMINALIZATION: ARE WE PREPARED?

With the passing of July, the window of opportunity for members of the
public to give their opinion on decriminalization to the Special
Committee on the decriminalization of marijuana passes with it.

The Committee will now sort out all the information it has, and make a
recommendation on whether or not G.O.B. should proceed to
decriminalize marijuana.

Meanwhile the public continues to make its voice heard through the
other outlets available.

One thing remains clear, the public is still having trouble
differentiating between decriminalization and legalization. The
current state of affairs begs the question "Is Belize prepared for the
decriminalization of marijuana?"

The National Drug Abuse Control Council (NDACC) feels that not only is
Belize unprepared to decriminalize marijuana, but that it is so
unprepared, decriminalization should not even be considered at this
time.

While widely known for its anti-drug advocacy campaigns, and their
school-to-school approach with drug education, not many people truly
understand just what function NDACC really plays in Belizean society.
As seen in the Misuse of Drugs Act Chapter 103, section 2 page 15 of
the Laws of Belize Revised Edition 2000, NDACC was created to, among
other things, "keep under review the situation in Belize with respect
to drugs which are being or appear to them likely to be misused and of
which the misuse is having or appears to them capable of having
harmful effects sufficient to constitute a social problem."

The Act also mandates the Council to advise government on the
Council's opinion which course of action ought to be taken in matters
concerning the restricting of the availability of such drugs or
supervising the arrangements for their supply.

The Council is also required to enable persons affected by the misuse
of such drugs to obtain proper advice, and for securing the provision
of proper facilities and services for the treatment, rehabilitation
and aftercare of such persons; for promoting co-operation between the
various professional and community services which in the opinion of
the Council have a part to play in the dealing with social problems
connected with the misuse of such drugs.

NDACC then is a policy making and regulatory body, as well as the
advisory body to the government on matters pertaining to drugs and
matters connected there with.

With the mandate given by law to NDACC, it has authority to speak on
matters such as decriminalization, and while the committee is out
deliberating on a verdict, The Reporter spoke to the Director of
NDACC, Mr. Esner Vellos.

Vellos told The Reporter that while the special committee had not
initially collaborated with the Council on the matter, the Council did
submit its position via email to the committee during the public
consultations period. The contents of the document could not be shown
without express permission from the Ministry of Health.

However, Vellos did explain the Council's position on the
decriminalization of marijuana and why he believes that "Belize is
unprepared for the decriminalization of marijuana."

Vellos explained that before arguments can be heard for
decriminalization, the proper policies as well as the facilities and
physical resources need to be implemented. He went on to say that
while arguments arise from all of the functions of NDACC (drug
prevention, rehabilitation and treatment, research and information,
legal reform and public education) a major area of concern is
rehabilitation and treatment. In the eventuality that
decriminalization of marijuana results in an escalation of both supply
and demand, there currently exists no policy on how G.O.B. will
regulate and control it.

The obvious outcome of such escalation is that cases of addiction will
rise. The country currently has only three government affiliated
rehabilitation centers, one in the Belize district, one in Cayo, and
the other in Corozal. There are also only six outreach officers
country wide, leaving one single person to do referrals to the rehab
centers and follow-ups for that entire district.

This number seems terribly inadequate as is, and would prove futile in
the face of mass escalation of addiction cases.

NDACC's annual report for 2011 from the Rehabilitation and Treatment
Unit shows that 99 marijuana addiction cases were handled in 2011
alone. While the former Minister of Police Doug Singh had said that
there is not enough conclusive data to arrive at the conclusion that
decriminalization would cause an escalation, there is also no evidence
to support that it won't, and it would seem the Council is taking a
hope-for-the-best-but-prepare-for-the-worst approach.

NDACC is planning to have entities branching out of it such as the
National Research Center for Drug Education, and a National
Rehabilitation Center which will be regulated by NDACC. With those
facilities established, research could be done in Belize and
conclusive data could be compiled for Belize, enabling policies to be
made which cater to the specific needs of the country.

Universal standards of care would be established for the rehab
centers, in terms of staff qualification and training, quality of
rehab facilities, quality of the services provided and accessibility
to the public at large. These standards would also govern whatever
other rehab facilities would open its doors in the future. The Drug
Council's position is that without these facilities in place, the
country cannot even begin to look at the health or any of the other
issues that will stem from decriminalization.

NDACC has accepted that the intention to decriminalize is noble and is
an attempt to relieve the pressure on the prison and provide
alternative methods to prison sentences when dealing with drug
offenders. However, the council feels that there are alternatives to
decriminalization.

Last week, the Drug Council assembled a committee to do a situational
analysis and work with the judiciary for the inception of a Drug Court
at the Magistrates level. The rationale is that once someone commits
an offence that falls within certain parameters as it pertains to
marijuana and other drugs, that offender would be sent to a court
specifically to deal with the drug offense and be able to determine
what type of rehabilitation and sanction would be necessary.

The result would free up the other magistrate courts of the overflow
of drug offences that seem to be clogging up the justice system. A
similar school of thought for firearm offences led to the inception of
Magistrates Court No.8, which deals primarily with firearm cases.
Belize's weaknesses in terms of dealing with potential effects of
decriminalization are displayed in the U.S. State Departments' 2012
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR).

Belize received less than favorable comments in the sections of drug
supply reduction and corruption.

In supply reduction it was said that the Belize Police Department's
Anti-Drug Unit (ADU) "was often unable to promptly respond to
unauthorized air traffic in remote parts of the country. Belize in
turn used ADU to counter the spiralling violence in Belize City whose
elevated murder rate contributed to the 5.8 percent increase
nation-wide."

Another fact pointed out how much of a problem marijuana currently is
in Belize, citing that "Belizean authorities seized and eradicated 72
metric tons (MT) of cannabis" which is higher than all other drug
confiscations combined.

The corruption section is of particular interest in the
decriminalization issue as it brings to the forefront that while
policies are essential to the nation surviving whatever negative
effects may come from decriminalization of marijuana, local and
international confidence in the policy makers is nothing to be
enthused about.

The report stated: "Combined with a lack of resources and weak law
enforcement institutions, Belize's ineffective judicial system and
inadequate compensation for civil service employees and public safety
officials allowed illegal activities to continue at various levels
within the government.

"Belize lacked laws that specifically address narcotics-related
corruption."

While the Special Committee appointed by the Prime Minister has been
charged with the task of making recommendations to G.O.B., the legal
advisory body on matters such as decriminalization of any substance is
still the NDACC.

It is arguable that when the PM appointed the committee he sidestepped
the role of a body already legally mandated to advise the government
on the matter.

A rival opinion to that notion is that by appointing the committee,
the PM diversified the country's options, realizing that the Council
would take an all negative view and made an effort to find, if any, a
positive outcome to decriminalization.

The notion to decriminalize was first coined by the Ministry of
Police. The former Minister of Police now heads the committee, and
what can be gathered from this, coupled with the optimistic approach
the committee chair speaks with on the issue, is that if there is a
positive outcome, the committee will find and present it.

In the eventuality that the committee advises G.O.B. to decriminalize
marijuana, the government will either have to choose between one of
the conflicting views, or seek to discover some form of hybrid.
Whichever opinion obtains victory, the question of Belize's
preparedness is an issue to be answered.
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MAP posted-by: Matt