By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The co-chair of the Government-appointed commission that examined legalising medical marijuana yesterday voiced fears that weak enforcement could spur creation of “a black market”.

Bishop Simeon Hall, speaking after the Government tabled in the House of Assembly a long-awaited package of Bills to legalise and regulate such activities, told Tribune Business he remains concerned that a lack of will and capacity to properly regulate the sector could “exacerbate some of the social problems” presently facing The Bahamas.

While backing medicinal marijuana for both its potential health and economic benefits, he admitted this nation does “not have a good track record of enforcing almost anything” as it has multiple statute laws that are not properly or fully implemented.

With the Cannabis Bill and accompanying regulations, plus other supporting legislation, now having reached Parliament, Bishop Hall told this newspaper: “I support the idea of medical marijuana. I think it does have some medicinal benefits. Our committee, though, was worried about enforcement of the law to make sure it did not exacerbate some of the social problems.

“We have enough social problems now. I felt that if we can take the money out of drugs it would decrease how it impacts on other social problems. That’s what the committee tried to do: Let’s bring about legislation like other Caribbean countries. Bring about legislation of medical marijuana, not increase marijuana use in the country.”

The Bills tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday move The Bahamas closer to legalising cannabis for medical and religious use while decriminalising possession of small amounts. “It’s already in the country. That’s what a lot of people miss,” Bishop Hall added.

“We drove and walked on many different streets and could find it [marijuana] on almost every street. I can name you nine homes where people are selling marijuana now. We said we have to provide for, to bring, some regulation for dealing with it, but we were concerned about how do we enforce this? The enforcement at the same time.

“How do you legislate something that could be going on the black market? We’re not good at enforcement. We do not have a good track record of enforcing almost anything. We have a lot of things in the law books but don’t enforce it.”

Bishop Hall acknowledged that, under the legislative package tabled in Parliament, medical marijuana can only be acquired from a licensed “cannabis dispensary” that is operated by a certified pharmacist. “You can’t go and buy it on the street,” he added. “It was never going to be a free for all for the streets where you could go and buy it.

“What we need to guard against is marijuana being so popular that any ‘John Brown’ goes down the street and buys it. The regulations should be enforced. If they don’t do what is needed in enforcing the law, it exacerbates our social problems.

“People that criticised the legislation miss out that it’s common on our streets now. This won’t cause more marijuana to come; it’s on the street now. I didn’t know it was so common. I faced some personal criticism because I was on the marijuana committee. As a pastor, I never touched marijuana. I wanted to learn about it so that I could speak to persons hooked on it and selling it,” Bishop Hall continued.

“I said: Let’s regulate it. I support the Government wholeheartedly with regulating it, but make sure in regulating it that it’s not a free for all like you find in other nations.” Branville McCartney, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader whose party made medical marijuana and its legalisation a core campaign issue in the 2017 general election, yesterday backed the bishop’s concerns.

“Absolutely. This is The Bahamas,” he said. “We have a black market all around. The enforcement of the regulations will be vitally important.” Asked whether The Bahamas is too late in legalising and regulating medical marijuana, Mr McCartney replied: “We’re late but I don’t think we’re too late.

“The benefits of medical marijuana, of course, from a health perspective continue. Not only economically, but it will benefit persons health-wise, which will be a step in the right direction for us moving forward.” Under the new Bills, initial licence fees range from $1,000 to $5,000, while annual licence fees go from $500 to $14,712 depending on the type.

Cultivation, retail, transport and religious use licences are reserved for Bahamian citizens aged 21 years or older, or companies that are 100 per cent beneficially owned by one or more Bahamian citizens.

Analytical testing licences, manufacturing licences and research licences can be obtained by entities where one or more Bahamian citizens beneficially own at least 30 per cent of the company.

The initial fees for cultivation, religious and transport licences are $1,000. For manufacturing, retail and research licences, the initial fee is $3,000. For an analytical testing licence, the initial fee is $5000. For cultivation purposes, the non-refundable annual licence fee is $2,944 for nurseries, $9,800 for micro-cultivation and $12,600 for standard cultivation.

The non-refundable annual fees for manufacturing, analytical testing, research, transport and retail licences are $14,712; $7,356; $7356; $9,800; and $14,712, respectively. The transport licence fee of $14,712 applies for up to three vehicles. For each additional vehicle, the fee is $7,400.

There are administrative fees for security vetting, electronic database and tracking software services, and inspection fees. The costs range from $2,400 to $200.