When I first saw this article, the picture particularly, there was no way I thought that was Phenton Neymour. It is seriously appalling & frightening as if he were sucked dry. 'That cancer does do ya bad' (Bahamian Vernacular) A complete transformation in such a short time, looking back from Election time, when he was a panelist with so much more weight. Marijuana is truly a wonder plant to have helped him to survive this long. I support both recreational and medicinal, because the publicly debated and highly misunderstood 'THC' which is the euphoric inducing chemical that gets you 'high' also contains a potent amount of cancer killing properties that does not destroy the body and actually assists brain functioning. The 'CBD' property of this plant which is what is included in most if not all Cannabis medicines can also deliver the same benefit without the 'high' but together the healing quality is even better. I say leave it to the consumer to make their own personal determination as to what they would like to consume in this case, which is why medicinal & recreational should be allowed to go hand in hand.

Meanwhile, less than half of those supporting would actually be able to use for medicinal reasons. This is where the red tape comes in. Medicinal use is by prescription only. Still however, if a doctor does not think you need it, then you will not be prescribed or allowed to use it. They need to focus on BOTH Medicinal & Decriminalization, that way those can possess it but up to a certain amount, as well as use it freely without fear of persecution, without having to see a doctor. The other thing that would need to be addressed is to prohibit its use from public areas, schools etc. There will have to be a lot of critique to laws with the assistance of mentally mature users, lawyers and of course the government. To have this agenda spear headed by pastors and anti-marijuana persons would only cause a dramatic halt to this agenda.

You just proved my point. On a scale, the amount of Ignorant Bahamians far exceeds the amount of Intelligent ones and for anything to ever positively impact the citizens of this country, this scale needs a ton load to tip.

Leave it to ignorant Bahamians to fuss, panic and rush for all the wrong reasons in life. They will be back paying the new VAT come next week. Bahamians really need to wake up in Life.

I have always stated that number men were just simply crying crocodile tears & complaining about more taxes. The evidence they reported as to why they couldn't afford more taxes was fallacious to the desperate extent of threatening jobs. These gaming operators can afford even more taxes than proposed and still turn in significant profits. These guys separately turn in hundreds of millions of dollars and complain. All of the years before taxation and regulation can you imagine how much profits they reaped? A big slap in the face to the people & the government of the Bahamas, and still persons were not fined and imprisoned as a result. It was very evident within the society and only a fool was not aware of it. Simply for example, the buying of expensive lands and infrastructure, especially those that were once not even for sale, that all of sudden fell into the number operators hands so they can build their plaza's, complexes etc paving the way for even more gaming outlets & more avenues to launder their loads of musty cash. These guys are white collar criminals that simply bamboozled the government & the people of the Bahamas. I am glad that the Minister is fully aware & hope that he as well as future governments to come can tighten the grip even more on these self proclaimed swindlers.

That is also why the Freight Forwarders are trying to kill consumers now, because they know how much people will revert to online shopping.

One must be an absolute fool to think that these Number House's employ that much people. Also the profits reported are disturbingly less than what these guys actually make. The goal for these pirates was always to make more while spending less, especially on personnel. Dont allow these fools to bamboozle you into thinking that they employ such a large amount of persons. One webshop can get by with just 2-3 employees, while the employees of Island luck, asue draw, and flowers combined is still lower than the total number reported. Their operation is very simple. Most of the work is done on their computers and software, you only need personnel to assist with collections & counting, most of which is handled by the 2-3 employees of each outlet and ultimately 1 or 2 accountants per chain. Major repairs to infrastructure goes toward private entities and minor maintenance go toward one team of maybe 5 persons who go around making sure handy work is done, also the IT team may only consist of 5 or less programmers/graphic designers (being very generous with that number) per chain.

Having no VAT on shoes & clothing doesn't mean that Bahamians will not pay double what the shoes & clothing are actually worth, that's how those businesses thrived before VAT. $40 for a pack of 5 Hanes undershirts will still be $40, even though it is only worth $19.

These murderous thugs are getting more & more brazen. Two Assassinations in a barbershop at 10AM sounds like a result of a serious revenge and pure hatred for human life. Cant even get your hair cut in peace anymore and sadly the owners and other barbers are out of a Saturdays income because of the murderous slimes that roam such a small town in the name of evil.

Amazing how they remove comments when you hit nails on the head. A sign that they know what is happening.