Mr. Watson last led a public march on the issue six years ago; it drew several dozen participants. He started a petition two years ago and claims to have more than 2,000 signatures from people who believe marijuana should be decriminalized.

Mr. Watson is appealing to these signatories to help him force debate on the subject by joining in the march.

According to the National Drugs Commission (NDC) 7.5 per cent of the population, or 3,400 people, smoke marijuana.

Mr. Watson, an air conditioning installer who has been married for 18 years and has a 12-year-old son, is not without Government sympathizers:

Cabinet Ministers Ewart Brown and Renee Webb are open to discussion, as are backbenchers Delaey Robinson and Wayne Perinchief. In the Senate, the PLP’s Calvin Smith goes a step further — ‘just decriminalize it,’ he says.

Sen. Smith said the main reason the PLP hasn’t touched the subject is because it is afraid it might lose votes, especially in the religious community which, he says, forms the bulk of the party’s support base.

Mr. Watson, 46, said if Government doesn’t include discussing decriminalization in its next election platform, he will start urging people to boycott voting altogether.

Ms Webb told the Bermuda Sun this week that she believes Bermuda should address the subject of decriminalization, but that from where she sits in Cabinet, it is not considered a priority issue.

She said: “As a mature society, Bermuda needs to have discussions on topics and not just brush them away because people feel uncomfortable or don’t support it.”

Ms Webb added the matter has not been raised in Parliament because the “support isn’t there to make it happen.”

However she said: “I believe the pros and cons of decriminalization should be discussed, but that’s not the mainstream view of the Government.”

Ms Webb said while any politician is welcome to raise the issue in the House of Assembly, it won’t be her. “I don’t feel strongly enough about it,” she said.

Sen. Smith said: “Personally, I think it [marijuana] should be decriminalized and I feel very strongly that it should be discussed.

“The U.S. discusses their defences, they discuss how they are going to beat up Afghanistan, and here we are worried about discussing marijuana.

“I feel very nervous about legislation that attempts to enforce behaviour. I’d much rather see a society where people are able to make a choice.”

He added, however: “Strongly religious people tend to want to have rules enforced that direct behaviour and a large proportion of the PLP’s vote is made up of these types of people.”

But marijuana users like Mr. Watson say they’ve heard enough lip service and that its time the politicians actually did something to activate change.

For the past three years, the PLP Government has said ‘no’ to decriminalization. Instead it draws attention to the Criminal Code Amendment Act.

According to Health Minister Nelson Bascome, marijuana has already been decriminalized “to a degree,” with offenders being dealt with either through the drug court or being given conditional or absolute discharges.

Last year, Mr. Bascome told this newspaper: “Within the broader context of the Criminal Code Amendment Act, when you look at the number of young Bermudians who are charged with first time offences for small amounts of marijuana — but who it becomes clear are not going to be career criminals — we are addressing these crimes with the amendment to the Code.”

Referring to conditional and absolute discharges, the Act states: “Where an accused, other than a corporation, pleads guilty to or is found guilty of an offence, the court may, if it considers it to be in the best interests of the offender, and not contrary to the public interest, instead of convicting the offender, by order direct that the offender be discharged absolutely or on conditions prescribed in a probation order…”

But Mr. Watson argues the Criminal Code Amendment Act doesn’t go far enough. He says Bermudians are still being put on the U.S. stop list and that once their name appears in the newspapers they become stigmatized, which prevents them getting work — leaving the door open for harder drug use.

Mr. Watson, a Rastafarian, said: “This issue is not going to go away. In its last pre-election campaign the PLP said it was going to deal with the issue of young black males being labelled criminals, but it hasn’t addressed one of the main reasons why they get that label, which is because of marijuana.

“The ATI scheme doesn’t deal with marijuana and the drug court is geared more towards hard drugs like heroin and crack. There is nothing that deals with those people who are being caught with small amounts of marijuana for personal use.”

Mr. Watson added that because of the Internet, islanders are becoming increasingly aware of how other jurisdictions are dealing with marijuana.

In the U.K., the London borough of Lambeth has recently extended a pilot scheme in Brixton in which police give on-the-spot warnings instead of arresting people caught with small amounts of cannabis.

A survey of Lambeth residents, to be released shortly, is expected to show broad support for the scheme, especially among whites. According to the BBC, a separate review by Scotland Yard will show crime figures in the area have fallen, while arrests for more serious drugs offences have risen.

The U.K.’s Home Secretary David Blunkett wants to re-classify cannabis from a class ‘B’ to a class ‘C’ drug.

Bermuda’s Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith, speaking to the Bermuda Sun last year, promised to keep an eye on the U.K. scheme. He said: “The Bermuda Police Service is not at this time considering an ‘on the street’ caution policy, but I will monitor the developments of this particular trial with interest.”

He added: “In Bermuda, we do have a discretion to caution. Many first-time cannabis offenders are cautioned. From a resource perspective, we are not under the same pressure [as the U.K.] to consider an ‘on the street’ caution policy.”

He said: “I would be interested to learn of the impact of the ‘cannabis warning trial,’ particularly from the perspective as to whether it discouraged offenders from re-offending.” More recently, Mr. Smith has declined to comment on the subject.

Mr. Watson said he first started smoking marijuana as a teenager and that he decided to start a petition after he was stopped by police in 1996 for a routine drug search. “They told me if I wanted to do something I should approach the Government,” he said. “I figured I should at least try and do something to stop young people having to go through the court system and being made criminals.”

Mr. Watson also questioned the NDC’s drug use figures. He said: “Those who indulge are not the ones who go out and express that they do. They do it in the privacy of their own home. They are an invisible majority.”

Mr. Watson’s petition reads: ‘We the sympathizers in agreement with statements made by the Hon. Senator Calvin Smith in the Senate, call for the legislators of Bermuda to review the laws pertaining to the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use with a move towards decriminalization.’

Sen. Smith’s comments go back a couple of years and relate to statements he made about unfair sentencing.

This week, Sen. Smith told us a march may be enough to grab Government’s attention but it depends on who’s marching.

“Marches work if they are seen to be supported by a large cross section of the community. If Government feels it’s coming from one particular segment of the community, a march will have less effect, but certainly a march is better than no march.”

Note: Government Yet to Address Decriminalization, but a Number of PLPs Favour Debate.

Source: Bermuda Sun
Author: Nigel Regan
Published: May 3, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Bermuda Sun
Contact: newsroom@bermudasun.bm
Website: http://www.bermudasun.bm/

Million Marijuana March 2002
http://freedomtoexhale.com/million.htm

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