Finally. Some common sense!!!!

This is excellent news! If the Bahamas Christmas Counsel start talking about maintaining the status quo, tax every church at same rate cannabis would of been taxed.

Jackass does as jackass is. The self-righteous fools in the Bahamas will be the sole hold-out against legalization of cannabis regardless of what scientific research concludes or CARICOM decides!

Our politicians are just way to stupid to do anything else except "talking shyt" and making promises for fools.

This is going to be a landmark decision for the Caribbean region ........ the economy of the "sun,sand, sea and sex" tourism trade can finally be joined by its fifth hidden pillar - sensimellia

Most notable that we will probably be the last to ever, if ever, address this issue properly.

Future News: Today Nassau announced the end of 1% VAT.
Cannabis tax revenues predicted to cover the last 1% tax revenue.
At one point in the Bahamas tax policy the VAT rate had climbed
as high as 12% before cannabis was legalized.

Hahaha, from your lips to the creator's ears.

Great to see common sense and compassion from our people.
Hope it continues.

"The report was foreshadowed last month by Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, who yesterday said the government’s position will be determined by the Cabinet."

If the government even has a position, especially as quoted above by Duane Sands, none of us care.

The govenments position is determine by the population, and we don't give a damn about what a few useless ignorant cabinet ministers think.

"a few useless....?
more than a few, I would say.

And how many mens and womens lives have been ruined by this antiquated law founded in prohibition era scare mongering? It was simply a way to control certain segments of the population in the USA and then became a perfect way to strong hand the international community.

One of the dumbest ideas to date, although I expect many to disagree. This social experimentation will not end well and it may be years before the full effects of this lunacy will be understood.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/new…

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/new…

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/mari…

I don't automatically disagree with you, however, (...and you are entitled to your opinion) if you came to your conclusion based on the BigPharma/corporate bought organizations you referenced, your research is a bit juvenile. Asking those organization is cannabis should be legal is like asking 'Pookie on the corner' illegally selling dime bags baby mama if cannabis should be legal.

It should be obvious that this is not a peer reviewed blog site and all studies that reflect negative effects of marijuana on developing brains cannot be listed here. This simply highlights, for those who may be willing to look deeper than the immediate benefits they may reap, what many Bahamians have observed anecdotally for decades... many people are adversely affected by using marijuana especially the young!

I can at this moment agree with you cannabis may have some possible negatives, however, look at the alternative; look at the cost to our young people and our nation if we maintain the status quo. Anyone with eyes can read the reason why it was made illegal and the devastating effects it had on minority communities and people of color around the world. Since we're on the topic of side effects, have you seen the pills commercials on TV? What about meat? NOPE! What about sodas? NOPE! What about GMO's? NOPE! What about 50% of our diet being hybrid foods? NOPE! What about the chemicals and lead in our water? NOPE! What about the mercury in our oceans/fish? NOPE! While cannabis has not directly contributed to the death of any human to date, pharmaceuticals have had a devastating effect on civilization around the world, we've lost many great musical icons, Micheal Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince and the list goes on and on, 'normal' people with LEGALLY prescribed poison are killing themselves in massive numbers, where is the outcry? Young people are drinking 'lean' like kool-aid while BigPharma is living the life on yachts in the Caribbean raking in profits while peddling these legal poisons to our kids. Cannabis is not perfect but sure is more healthy than the legal poisons in our medicine cabinets. Cannabis has been scientifically proven to help humans KICK addiction to opioids, hmm, interesting, now you understand the fierce fight and misinformation by BigPharma and other corporate entities? The bananas, seedless grapes, seedless watermelon, almost 50% of our fruits and vegetables we eat are genetically modified by guess who? It's time to wake up and stop believing our corporate masters. Genesis 1:30

Excellent post Troy.
Well thought out and said.

The only decent thing for Mr. Fernander(Bahamas Christian Counsel Pres.) to do is to take the same position as he did with the Minister of Health giving away condoms trying to protect/save our youths. The church FAILED our young men by siding with their enemy for the past 40 years! While I sympathize with Rev. Simeon Hall because of his sick relative, is that what it took for you to see righteousness??? This was a coordinated, deliberate attack on the black and brown population/family/men and where was the "moral voice of truth"? The church needs to OPENLY apologize! Pride comes before fall, this generation will not forget. All successful politicians must take the cognitive dissonance pill, I get that, but the moral voice of the country??? - - - The Book Of JAMES 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Do a Bahamian survey ........ What commodity has the greatest negative effect on the typical Bahamian home????? (a) rum (b) marijuana (c) cocaine (d) tobacco (e) trans fats (f) high fructose corn syrup

Sweethearting followed by High Fructose corn syrup

BOL .......... Indeed

#1 - Rum
#2 - HFC
#3 - Trans Fats
#4 - Tobacco
#5 - Cocaine
#6 - PROBHIBITION of Marijuana/Cannabis

Of course they should legalise it, and of course we won't. Too many of our fellow Bahamians are being condemned due to having a couple Oz when they were teenagers. If they say they need to ban marijuana as its bad, then ban alcohol, cigarettes, fast food etc etc.

Ma Comrades to some we in the colony of island's, the Christian Council lost its biblical bark by having gone all silent after the "regularizing" Numbers Houses.
Churches, like Numbers Houses, are competing same limited Sinner Souls win-over their heavenly and worldly Jesus's' by getting them to regularly dump some cash into their collection plates...and then work smart convincingly get them enrolled on steady "tithing plan."
Isn't it time Imperial red shirts cabinet give sobering review to the operational costs and offerings structure of Houses of Worship - to determine - not if they should be taxed but at what offerings, donations and christian products and services sold - escalating tax rates... including on values real properties.

The biggest reason they are slow to decriminalize cannabis is big alcohol is lobbying against it and Ministers own shares in Commonwealth Brewery. As soon as they find a way to ensure that a few elites get the lion share of the profits and can lock out unconnected Bahamians, cannabis will be legalized.