Musa to Trump: Don’t Blame Us for Your Drug Problem
In addressing the idea of legalizing marijuana, Prime Minister Dean Barrow touched on the U.S. factor. According to PM Barrow, if marijuana was grown legally in the country, the cartels would openly take over production in Belize. The fear is that the U.S. will bring down the hammer on the country and to quote the Prime Minister, “goodbye correspondent banking, goodbye financial system, goodbye trade, goodbye lifeblood.” Former Prime Minister Said Musa has a different view. Musa believes Belize’s national policies should not be influenced by how President Donald Trump feels about the issue.
Said Musa, Area Representative, Fort George Division
“I know that they will b e upset because it distorts the market as far as they are concerned but the truth of the matter is for years when we talked to the American and the Europeans for that matter and they tell us about burning the marijuana and controlling. We looked to them and say why don’t you control your market. You all are the one consuming using this drug. So why blame us for the drug problem? That’s one thing. The other thing is this: I don’t why our national policy should be dictated by how President Trump or whoever else in there feels about this issue. That is my position. And I don’t think that is an irresponsible position to take especially since in their own country they are now legalizing it.”
Several states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.