So, the president of the Christian Council says we shouldn’t even consider legalizing marijuana. Rev. Dr. Ranford Patterson said they are against anything that will damage the family.
Do you know what is really damaging to the family in The Bahamas? The high level of importance of religion in our politics, because it leads us to frame the national debate around these nonsense symbolic concerns, instead of concrete, bread and butter issues.
I have news for Patterson: Everyone in this country who wants to smoke marijuana already does so; the only thing we accomplish with our dictatorial stance is that we ruin the lives of hundreds of young men by throwing them in a cell for something that is no worse than drinking a beer.
Why is it that we in the country can never see where trends are going and learn to get ahead of the game? Around 20 American states have already approved it for medicinal purposes and around 40 countries are considering similar legislation. Read my lips, Bahamas – it will happen here.
But, as usual, we will be the last to get in on an industry likely worth hundreds of millions a year to this struggling, indebted little country. Just like with gambling and the national lottery, we will bury our heads in the sand while everyone who wants to use marijuana continues to do so, while the country misses out on the big pay day. And then, some day many years down the road, we will wake up and legalize it anyway.
I think that most Bahamians understand the way things really work. The problem is, we as a society continue to listen to the likes of the Christian Council, allowing our national conversation to be hijacked by a bunch of behind-the-times dinosaurs.
By: Isaac N.