meanwhile another piece in todays mentions 7 years wait for a trail to come to court. get the $%@$ done people.

Smells like an attempt to win an election to me!

smoke and mirrors

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! Since when has the government become so conscientious? They didn't bother to ask anyone anything "scientifically" when criminalizing pot and ruining untold 1000's of peoples lives. How come they need a scientific survey to legalize it after most of the western world has already done so?

Instead of wasting time on this, they need to conduct a scientific survey to gauge Bahamians’ feelings on the overwhelming numbers of Haitians in our country doing jobs that unemployed Bahamians should be doing!

#

So, numbers became legal, joints legal, what's next? I know.....prostitution should be made legal Women and men should have a means to survive. The government can then tax it.

Looks like abortion is next. Either that or LGBT marriage.

darn did you miss that mail boat into the 21st century

Again ?

This was America’s way of getting thousands of young, Black men in jail. Locking them up for possession of small amounts of marijuana or even conspiracy to possess. And many young men were used in experiments in jails to develop more powerful drugs and even to turn them into violent predators, who will eventually kill. And so Minnis and every government must tread carefully. Yes persons in jail for small amounts of grass should be released and eventually have their criminal records for marijuana possession expunged, but government should not appear to be giving persons Carte Blanche to go smoke until their eyes fall out. There has to be strict regulation, even if government decides to legalize possession of small amounts of it. There must be educational programs and rehabilitation efforts must be strengthened. And persons who constantly abuse the laws or their new freedoms must be aware that they can find themselves back behind bars and with less sympathy this time.

Excellent! Finally a government and a leader with sense - at least on this topic. Get this done now and then move on to bigger things.

Shame on doc he will do anything that he thinks will cause him to win an election.

to many young men were put in jail for minor offences. they should of done community service
When Mr Gray stood up for a young man from a family island to prevent him from going to
jail it was this same hypocrite doc. who had a uproar.

roc wit doc the next time you look in the glass. remember God does not like ugly.

Please, the PLP never stood up for for young men and Alfred Gray was abusing his office as a minister in what he was doing. Stop the PLP rhetoric.

Both the cigarettes and alcohol industry has been on a decline for years. Yet someone around the world dies from a (cigarette) smoking disease every 6 seconds. So these industries are more and more aggressively trying to recruit customers. They targeted areas like India and Thailand where advertising rules are less stringent and population is dense. The commercialization of marijuana will create new problems, so governments must be strict in their regulations.

This shortsighted foolishness is being driven by prison over-crowding among other things. Bahamians need to brace themselves for a major increase in the level of violent crimes. Many of the convicts Tweedle-Dumb Minnis is proposing be released from prison are now 'hardened' criminals, having become so while in prison if not before their incarceration.

As for the records of these criminals being expunged, one can only begin to imagine the ratcheted up vetting process all Bahamians will have to go through to gain entry to the U.S. on a B1 or B2 visa.

Minnis can't think past his nose and is pandering to pot smoking voters who are even more manipulable than the dumbed-down illiterate voter with an F- quality of education from our dysfunctional public education system.

Can you see past your own nose? The number of persons who WON'T be going to prison in the future because of simple marijuana possession will be more than those eligible for release pending the legislation; meaning in the aggregate less people BECOMING 'hardened criminals' by not being in that situation in the first place. How could you not see that? Furthermore of all the jurisdictions in the world that have have legalized marijuana, or in the case of Portugal decriminalized all drug use, violent crime has gone down. Empirical fact. I been reading your nonsense on here for too long. You think yourself clever but you're not, criticizing the 'dumb illiterate voter' without offering any example of critical thinking. You lack nuance and self awareness to such a degree that insulting the intelligence of others embarrisngly highlights your own ignorance.

REMEMBER urban renewal and the youth bands. Remember the youth programs
for young men.

Ask the former Deacon Jeff Lloyd if he can speak the Truth he knows all about
those Programs.

There is the saying "If man could learn from history what lessons it would teach"

Facts and truth will survive the times.

No one can beat doc. remember doc and Moultrie at Cabbage Beach. What happened
to that. Was that incident upholding the law.

Remember John Mosko Nolle Proseque a far greater offence than the poor black
young man in the family island.

This is a hot potato and no matter what decision the government makes there will be repercussions. The main thing is not to rush to a decision. In fact, it can be a decision where the results are phased in over a period of time. The government doesn't ever want to appear to be telling people, "there's no more jail time and there is no more criminal record for small amounts of drugs, so it's ok to abuse it."

Comrades shouldn't never been sent up Fox Hill Prison for selling a couple of bags of pot - those serving jail time, must equally be freed. Far too many families have watched loved ones die as prisoners whilst serving out jail time sentences for selling but couple bags pot.

Maybe its just me, but I think an educated workforce and curbing illegal immigration are far greater priorities!

ditto that