#BTEditorial – Can we responsibly decriminalise marijuana?

As Barbados navigates the path towards a more progressive stance on marijuana, our society must strike a delicate balance between personal freedoms and public responsibility. The issue at hand is not the decriminalisation of the herb itself, but rather the apparent rise in public smoking of this substance, particularly among younger people, which has come to our attention. The administration must address this concern promptly to protect the well-being of our citizens and maintain the orderliness of public spaces.

It is undeniable that the global landscape regarding marijuana legislation is evolving, with an increasing number of nations recognising the medicinal and recreational benefits of cannabis. Barbados, too, has taken significant strides in creating an enabling environment for the growing of medicinal marijuana, even if the medical profession continues to lag in the prescribing of cannabis for pain management, palliative care, fighting cancer and the prevention of seizures, among other benefits. Moving away from criminalising an individual for smoking a joint and focussing on the nexus between drugs and arms trafficking is a progressive step that aligns with changing perspectives and growing scientific evidence. Yet, we are troubled to witness more and more young individuals smoking cannabis openly in public spaces. They may feel free to impair their own health, well-being and mental development but we cannot accept them carelessly and crudely risking public health.

Our concerns about public smoking of marijuana are hardly different from those associated with tobacco, an issue that our society has managed through strict regulations, designated smoking areas and banning most public smoking. While advocating for the ultimate decriminalisation of cannabis, we must apply the lessons learned from tobacco control to regulate the public consumption of cannabis.

The administration’s leniency towards public marijuana use encourages a surge in incidents where young people are lighting up on our streets and in public places. Apart from the public health risk this behaviour also contributes to a sense of disorder that threatens the harmony of our communities. Our leaders must reevaluate policies and institute measures that reflect a commitment to responsible freedom.

There must be intense public education on the ills of smoking. While the risk of cancer, heart disease and respiratory illness is now widely known, there seems to be appalling ignorance – wrapped in a romantic fig leaf of nature and culture – of the impact of cannabis smoking on brain development. 

The available scientific evidence underscores the risks of cannabis smoking on children and young people, emphasising the vulnerability of the developing adolescent brain. Research indicates that regular marijuana use during this crucial period can lead to cognitive impairment, lowered IQ, and disruptions in memory and learning functions. There is a recognised link between early and frequent marijuana use and an elevated risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis, in susceptible individuals. We must therefore consider the potential long-term consequences on the mental well-being and cognitive development of our young population. Any move towards decriminalisation should prioritise the protection of our youth and discourage early and frequent marijuana use.

Decriminalisation, whether in practice or ultimately by law, sets us off on a slippery slope, where people begin to think that reducing or eliminating criminal penalties is a green light for licentious, mindless, arrogant public displays of conspicuous consumption – showing off for its own sake. The normalisation of public marijuana use should not signal to younger, more vulnerable generations that such behaviour is fully acceptable, heedless of the potential consequences on their physical and mental health.

In advocating for the ultimate decriminalisation of marijuana, we must learn from the mistakes made in handling tobacco consumption. Those lessons have been learned since the 1960s. Restrictions on public smoking areas, age limits, and educational campaigns – which took too long to come to the fore – are essential components of a responsible approach. The Attorney General and Minister of Health should take swift action to implement and enforce such measures to safeguard public spaces and the health of our citizens. The Chief Medical Officer should flex the dormant legal and administrative muscles that were revived for managing a viral pandemic to wrestle this burgeoning issue before it is too late.

We have gone on record to urge a lenient stance on cannabis; we have never called for a free-for-all. No right-thinking person should support smoking indoors among children and younger people. It is inconceivable that we should tolerate the cavalier exposure of people of any age to someone else’s outdoor marijuana smoke. The price of decriminalisation should be a culture of responsibility among users. This is who we are: the increasing incidents of public marijuana smoking. This is who we must be – a nation that is both free and fair as it removes criminal penalty and stigma in a just, harmonious, and mindful process, with decisive regulation.