Retired UWI Professor Lectures at Open Campus in Belize
Clinton ‘Pulu’ Lightburn
Retired Professor Neville Duncan, a former lecturer at the University of the West Indies, held forth at the UWI open campus in Belize City this morning. Duncan is visiting at the invitation of the Anglican Diocese where he is a keynote speaker at their annual synod. Today, he presented before a captive audience of students and businesspeople. Among them was Clinton ‘Pulu’ Lightburn. After listening intently to the presentation on social entrepreneurship, Lightburn offered his take on the lecture in the context of marijuana decriminalization.
Clinton ‘Pulu’ Lightburn, Lecture Attendee
“He is stressing social entrepreneurship which, I think, it’s what we call, to me it’s small business, what we refer to as small business. Recently, right here in Belize I’ve seen a lot of small, local businesses being forwarded on the different television stations and I like the idea. But my main concern with the social entrepreneurship is marijuana which he had mentioned that he had just got through putting together a, working on the program in Jamaica to decriminalize marijuana in Jamaica which is that you are allowed to have a plant in your yard or up to two ounces which in Belize is ten thousand dollars, plus three years [imprisonment]. And that quantum is fifty dollars worth of marijuana, in Belize City a hundred and twelve grams which is a quarter pound of marijuana costs fifty dollars. The average marijuana dur takes two days to sell that and they, what we call double up. So in two days time that fifty turns to a hundred so literally that person is making twenty-five dollars a day which is way below the poverty line. You can’t even tax that. A laborer which they are classified as makes forty to fifty dollars minimum per day. So I’m wondering why is that for fifty dollars worth of marijuana which has over four hundred medicinal properties policemen are going to low income, broke people’s houses at four o’clock in the morning traumatizing and marginalizing whole families.”
Professor Duncan leaves Belize on Sunday after delivering another address at the Bishop Sylvester Memorial Hall on Saturday evening.
