On October eighth, voters of Caye Caulker will make history as they head to the polls for Belize’s first-ever community cannabis referendum. This grassroots initiative, spearheaded by the “Legalize It Caye Caulker” campaign led by village councilor Ilya Rosado, asks voters whether or not the Government of Belize should establish a regulated, taxable cannabis industry on the island.
The referendum comes after a formidable group mobilization effort that gathered 365 signatures to set off the vote (greater than the 25% of registered electors required). For this small island group, the stakes are excessive. Supporters argue that legalization may create jobs, generate tax income, and set up Caye Caulker as a frontrunner in accountable hashish tourism.
Echoes of 2022: when Belizean church buildings blocked nationwide legalization
This native referendum carries specific significance given what occurred simply three years in the past on the nationwide degree. In 2022, Belize came remarkably close to full cannabis legalization when the federal government superior complete laws to create a nationwide regulated marijuana business.
Nonetheless, the Nationwide Evangelical Affiliation in Belize, together with the Belize Affiliation of Evangelical Church buildings and The Belize Council of Church buildings, launched an aggressive marketing campaign to cease the measure. These non secular organizations mobilized their congregations to petition for a referendum that would allow voters to override Parliament’s decision. The church coalition efficiently gathered sufficient signatures to set off the nationwide referendum course of, successfully halting the laws’s implementation.
Past the signature marketing campaign, opposition from the evangelical church buildings created important political stress. The banking sector and parts of the tourism business, swayed by the church buildings’ messaging, additionally joined the resistance. By July 2022, the national government had abandoned plans for the referendum altogether, citing the estimated $5 million price of holding the vote. The legalization effort died, leaving Belize with solely its 2017 decriminalization legislation that allows possession of as much as 10 grams on personal property.
A distinct path ahead for hashish in Belize
The Caye Caulker referendum represents a essentially totally different strategy—one which builds from the group up reasonably than imposing coverage from above. By permitting a single village to determine its personal hashish future, this vote sidesteps a number of the nationwide political pressures that derailed the 2022 effort.
Even inside the present authorities, Cabinet members have expressed divergent views on the Caye Caulker initiative, reflecting the continued complexity of hashish politics in Belize. But the referendum proceeds, demonstrating how native democratic motion can generally succeed the place nationwide politics fail.
For Caye Caulker residents, October eighth affords greater than only a vote on hashish coverage. It represents a possibility to chart their very own financial future and probably present a profitable mannequin that different Belizean communities may observe. Whether or not the evangelical opposition that stopped nationwide legalization three years in the past can mobilize successfully in opposition to this native initiative stays to be seen. Additional, it’s unclear what have an effect on the passages of this referendum would really accomplish for the reason that nationwide authorities has but to legalize industrial gross sales.
As voting day approaches, all eyes are on this small island group, the place residents will converse with their vote on whether or not they need to be pioneers in Belize’s hashish future or keep the established order.
