Tag: belize

signature signatures campain citizen initiative referendum

Activists Gather Signatures For Cannabis Legalization Vote In Belize

Written by Johnny Green on August 15, 2025. Posted in Policy.

Back in May 2025, cannabis advocates in Caye Caulker, Belize, launched a petition seeking to place an adult-use cannabis legalization measure on an upcoming local ballot. Caye Caulker is a small island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea.

The petition, led by Caye Caulker Village Councillor Ilya Rosado, needed to collect hundreds of signatures from registered voters to place it on the ballot in an upcoming election. Organizers were aiming for the Village Council elections on June 29, 2025, and missed that deadline, although they may have succeeded in getting it in front of voters in October 2025.

“The group, Legalize It Caye Caulker, has secured a major victory in its push for legislation to create a responsible, regulated, and taxable legal cannabis industry. The group’s petition aimed at triggering a referendum on marijuana legalization has been certified as successful by the Elections and Boundaries Department. The petition garnered 365 approved signatures, surpassing the required threshold of 25% of registered electors.” reported LoveFM in its local coverage.

“In a letter to Governor General Dame Froyla Tzalam, on July 31, the department stated that out of the 1,360 registered electors in Caye Caulker Village, 25% or 340 signatures were needed to validate the petition. A total of 380 signatures were submitted, and after a thorough review, 365 were approved, accounting for 26.84% of the total registered electors.” the outlet also reported.

When voters in Caye Caulker get the chance to vote on the petition, they will be asked, “Should the Government of Belize pass legislation to create a responsible, regulated, and taxable legal cannabis industry on the island of Caye Caulker, with a portion of the revenue going directly for the benefit of Caye Caulker and its residents?”

If the vote is held and the measure is approved, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will become law automatically, even at a local level. Leadership from the Belize Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs has already pushed back on the measure since it will be a local vote on a national issue.

“We have national laws. We don’t have laws that are specific to areas, to regions, and so on. And so certainly there is a school of thought that’s saying that a local election can only deal with local issues. It should not deal with national issues.” stated Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Governance. “We certainly will have to be guided by the attorney general. As I said, these are national issues that would have to be looked at, looking at national laws, looking at the national budget and so on. And so the attorney general will have to advise the government on the way forward.”

Belize Offers Automatic Expungements For First-Time Cannabis Offenders

Written by Hazel Norman on January 20, 2025. Posted in Policy.

Cannabis prohibition is one of the most harmful public policies in human history. Starting in the early 1900s, cannabis prohibition has ruined countless lives across the globe and wasted a tremendous amount of precious public resources.

Fortunately, more and more governments around the globe are getting on the right side of history when it comes to cannabis policy, albeit slowly. One of those countries is Belize where the government is now offering automatic expungements for first-time cannabis offenders.

“Тhе Соmmunіtу Rеhаbіlіtаtіоn Dераrtmеnt оf thе Міnіѕtrу оf Нumаn Dеvеlорmеnt, Fаmіlіеѕ & Іndіgеnоuѕ Реорlе’ѕ Аffаіrѕ hаѕ аnnоunсеd thе аvаіlаbіlіtу оf аutоmаtіс ехрungеmеnt fоr сеrtаіn fіrѕt-tіmе оffеnѕеѕ undеr nеw рrоvіѕіоnѕ оf thе Сrіmіnаl Rесоrdѕ (Rеhаbіlіtаtіоn оf Оffеndеrѕ) Асt, 2024.” stated Breaking Belize News in its local reporting.

The change in public policy applies to “a fіrѕt оffеnсе fоr роѕѕеѕѕіоn оf саnnаbіѕ оr саnnаbіѕ rеѕіn undеr ѕесtіоn 7 оf thе Міѕuѕе оf Drugѕ Асt, whеrе thе іmроѕеd fіnе dоеѕ nоt ехсееd $1,000” according to the media outlet.

In order for people to obtain an expungement for a first-time cannabis offense that fits within the parameters of the new program they must submit an application to the government for consideration and approval. The program is designed to help offenders move on with their lives and not be further affected by a personal cannabis possession offense.

Recreational cannabis remains illegal in Belize, and only first-time offenders are eligible for the expungement program. People convicted of cultivating and/or distributing cannabis are not eligible for the expungement program.

Are Banking Concerns Really Delaying Cannabis Reform In Belize?

Written by Frank Schuler on August 7, 2022. Posted in Policy.

Lawmakers in Belize previously passed the ‘Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill 2022.’ The measure passed both chambers of Belize’s Parliament and was set to become law.

However, cannabis prohibitionists, particularly church leaders, were able to successfully stall the passage of the bill and divert it into Belize’s referendum process.

A vote was initially set for later this year on September 4th. That vote is now being delayed, with no future vote date set from what I can tell. The reasoning for the delay? ‘Concerns’ about banking. Per Caribbean National Weekly:

The Belize government has confirmed that concerns raised by the banking community have led to the Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill 2022 being temporarily shelved despite going through all the states in Parliament.

Home Affairs and New Growth Industries Minister, Kareem Musa, was asked by reporters to comment on his reluctance to admit that banking sector concerns would present a roadblock to the bill.

“Cannabis legalization is taking place all across the Caribbean. Like the rest of the Caribbean, Belize always has correspondent banking concerns. As you recall with the offshore sector, we had to make certain regulations and adjustments to comply with the European Union so that we were not blacklisted.”

To many cannabis industry and policy observers around the globe, the excuse offered up for delaying the referendum vote seems to be a stretch. After all, many countries engage in the emerging legal cannabis industry, including nations in the European Union.

There seems to be a lot of rhetoric being tossed around on this topic, but not a lot of real-world examples of it actually happening. Hopefully cannabis reform can get back on track in Belize sooner rather than later.

Church Leaders In Belize Put The Brakes On Cannabis Reform

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

In late March lawmakers in Belize passed ‘The Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill 2022.’ The bill would, among other things, create a government registration and ID system in which people could sign up to participate in a national adult-use cannabis system. As Belize’s leading newspaper, Amandala, described the measure back in March upon its passage:

Yesterday, the Senate passed into law the Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill of 2022, which, in conjunction with the recently amended version of the Misuse of Drugs Act, legalizes the recreational use, commercial production and sale of cannabis throughout the country of Belize. The laws legalize cannabis use for adults only and put in place a framework for the rollout of the industry in Belize, which is to be overseen by a Cannabis Control Commission.

The bill was set to become law, however, last week a group led by evangelical churches in Belize submitted signatures in an attempt to put the measure to a referendum vote.

Belize has a referendum system in which citizens can submit signatures to place something passed by lawmakers on the ballot so that citizens can vote on it. Various other jurisdictions around the world have similar systems.

Generally speaking, referendums can be good and have helped reform cannabis laws in some parts of the world. However, they can also be used to hinder cannabis policy efforts, which is what happened in Belize last week. Below is what a representative had to say regarding the referendum push in Belize, per Channel 5 Belize:

Bishop Moses Benguche, Church Senator

“The gathering of the church leaders assembled here today feels that is was important to be able to share and to bring these petitions to the Governor General at this time, because we are speaking in a direct way to what the government has done in presenting a bill on March twenty fifth, 2022, the Bill entitled Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill. For us at this time, we decided to present these petition, because we think that it is a backward and retrograded step being undertaken in the name of New Growth Industry.”

Currently, only three countries have legalized cannabis for adult use at a national level – Canada, Uruguay, and Malta. Last I checked, the sky was still intact above all three of those countries, and any doomsday scenarios regarding legalization have yet to materialize.

From here, the Governor General’s Office in Belize will work with the Chief Elections Officer to validate the signatures. If there are not enough valid signatures, the referendum effort will essentially be over. However, if there are indeed enough valid signatures, the Chief Elections Officer will set a date for a vote.

Obviously, if the vote fails then presumably legalization will proceed. The group behind the referendum effort has indicated that they will respect the results of such a vote. However, if the referendum receives a majority of votes it is unclear how lawmakers will proceed.

The Bar Association of Belize recently issued a 17-page opinion that essentially states that the referendum vote will not be binding and that lawmakers can proceed regardless of the outcome. However, Belize’s Minister of Home Affairs doesn’t seem so sure, at least partially. Per Love FM:

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “What I can say is that I’ve seen that advice and I’ve also seen other advice coming from other attorneys practising in Belize and they differ and so I could see where there would be some possible legal challenge based on that but I see the Bar taking a particular position and I see other attorneys having another view on it. I think that that the churches have a genuine concern but at times, I do feel that they are detached from the actual on the ground reality of what it is that’s fueling murders, particularly in Belize City. Yes a lot of it results in retaliation but I think that they are out of touch with what is actually happening on the ground in Belize City and how much an industry like the cannabis industry can help places like Belize City. Instead of just looking at the bad, I think they should look at some of the economic benefits that will come to the various communities and understand, like I said, weed is not going anywhere.”

Cannabis reform in Belize has a lot of moving parts right now. Signatures need to be validated, if there are enough valid signatures then a vote needs to be held, and if the vote favors the referendum, then lawmakers will have a difficult choice to make. All we can do is wait to see how it all unfolds and hope for the best.