Earlier in our newscast we told you about the investigation into the murder of Cleon "Tush" Smith. He was gunned down inside a yard in Hattieville Village yesterday evening. Now as you heard from our interview with the Commander of Eastern Rural Division, investigators are not one hundred percent certain what instigated his murder. However a drug feud between certain groups in Hattieville is one of the main suspected motives for the execution. While interviewing the commander on this matter, we digressed from the topic a bit and ventured into a discussion about the intricacies of the drug trade and the legalization of Marijuana where Broaster gave us his two cents on the marijuana debate.
Jules Vasquez
"A lot of what we see ending up as violence originates from drugs, marijuana in particular, because there are a lot of marijuana consumed and obviously sold and trafficked in Belize. The case of orange walk shows that."
Sr. Sup. Edward Broaster- O. C. Eastern Rural
"And I think a lot of people don't know the background to trafficking in our country especially when it comes to distribution aspect, because there are certain gangs who try to control certain areas who also tries to tax sellers. if you want to sell drugs in my turf you have to pay me a commission or what have you and sometimes when individuals resist those solicitation, then there is conflict and then there is feud and rivalry and the drug is a part of what fuels the gang war in our country."
Reporter
"So wouldn't legalizing marijuana help with this gang problem?"
Sr. Sup. Edward Broaster- O. C. Eastern Rural
"If what has been done in Colorado and the other states that has legalized marijuana I think it will create tremendous employment for a lot of young people in Belize."
In 2015, the Barrow Administration considered a proposal for the decriminalizing of possession of less than 10 grammes of marijuana. Ultimately, government failed to follow up because 2015 was a year of elections - and it was viewed as politically sensitive.
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