The OBA’ s perspective, the recent Cannabis legislation appears to be a smoke screen for the PLP Government’s real agenda, which is to build a case for independence. As wise as they are, the Premier and the Attorney General’s Chambers have worked together for an extended period with the United Kingdom’s Home Office and the Foreign Commonwealth office, to ensure that Bermuda’s Cannabis laws do not fall afoul of the UK’s international obligations as they pertain to illicit drugs and some controlled drugs.
While we recognize and accept that the Government does not have to take the advice of the Home Office, the question is “what impact will the commercial production and sale of marijuana have on Bermuda Inc. and on our population?”
As we all know and appreciate, Bermuda enjoys an enviable reputation as an internationally renowned financial jurisdiction. Global organizations in insurance, fund administration companies and banking are registered in Bermuda and trade in the international financial markets. Has the PLP Government calculated the impact that Cannabis legislation may have on these businesses because of Bermuda’s noncompliance to international Anti-Money Laundering Legislation and Drug Enforcement legislation? Have they even considered the health, safety and social implications on our local population?
Are the Premier and the PLP Government intentionally orchestrating a real case for their own political endgame for Independence, knowing that the Royal Assent may not forthcoming?
The truth is, should the Governor make the decision not to provide Royal Assent, which would be a first in Bermuda’s constitutional history, the Premier will likely declare that the PLP tried to remove cannabis as a controlled drug under Bermuda’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1972, but the legislation was not signed off by the UK Government. He would then dramatically proclaim that Bermuda has a constitutional crisis at hand, a crisis that exists only in the mind of the Premier.
Going forward, the Premier would then go down in history as recusing himself of taking responsibility for not removing Cannabis as a controlled drug, and the establishment of local and international cannabis industry managed from Bermuda, even though there is no national push or demand for the Cannabis industry from the people of Bermuda. So why is the Premier campaigning to deliver this agenda?
Once again, this is another example of one of the Premier’s sleight-of-hand tactics. Bermuda, we must all pay attention to what is going on in our country and why. Bermuda deserves better.
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