Belize

Overview of drug policy, drug law and legislative trends in Belize

The Belizean government has traditionally taken a zero-tolerance approach towards the cultivation, sale, possession, and consumption of all recreational illicit substances. In November 2017, one week after the Belize Senate gave the green light to the passage of legislation decriminalising 10 grams or less of marijuana, Governor General Sir Colville Young has assented to the bill. The government had successfully piloted the amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act that also provides for monetary and non-recordable penalties for possession on school premises and in specified circumstances make smoking on private premises no longer an offence.

1. What are the trends in drug matters in Belize?
2. What are the current drug laws in Belize?
3. What reform proposals and reforms to the drug laws have recently occurred in the country?
4. How have drug laws impacted the prison situation in the country?
5. What does the law say about consumption? Is drug consumption a crime in the country?
6. What provisions does the law make for problem drug users? Does the law guarantee that their rights will be respected?
7. How does Belize position itself in the international debate on drug policy?
8. What role has civil society played in the debate on drugs?
9. Relevant drug laws and policy documents in the country

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1. What are the trends in drug matters in Belize?

The Belizean government has traditionally taken a zero-tolerance approach towards the cultivation, sale, possession, and consumption of all recreational illicit substances. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Belize had the third-highest cannabis consumption rate of the Americas (8.45%) following Jamaica (9.86) and the United States (14.07%) in 2006. While the possession and consumption of marijuana is currently outlawed in Belize, the government released a press statement in 2012 “announcing the appointment of a committee to evaluate a proposal to decriminalize marijuana possession”. In March 2012, a small group of public and private Belizean citizens were tasked to research and make recommendations to assist Belize’s policymakers in considering the amendment of current legislation to decriminalize possession of up to ten grams of marijuana. The group formed became the Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee (DOMC) chaired by Douglas Singh, the former Minister of Police and is comprised of five women and four men representing a cross section of the Belizean community. Three years later, in March 2015, the group produced the report, Belize Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee - Final Report 2015. The DOMC recommends, among others, "That it not be a criminal offense for anyone to be found in possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana."

2. What are the current drug laws in Belize?

The criminal status of cannabis is difficult to enforce in Belize due to inadequate law enforcement resources, ready access to refugee labourers who work on cannabis plantations, and the large expanses of unpopulated land. However, with a U.S.-funded marijuana crop eradication campaign being especially effective in the 1980s, drug traffickers have instead shifted their efforts to facilitating the transshipment of cocaine.

Currently any activities associated with any narcotic drugs are outlawed by the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1990. This Act divides illicit drugs into three classes (A, B and C) without providing any mechanism for adding, removing, or transferring drugs between classes. Like the Misuse of Drugs Acts of other nations, this statute is designed to implement the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its supplementary drug control treaties. Cannabis and its resin are currently deemed Class B drugs and its use and possession are illegal.

Offences relating to opium, cocaine, heroin, or cannabis can be punishable by 2 years in prison, a BZD$75,000 (USD$36,600) fine, or both.

The Misuse of Drugs Act states that a person found in possession of more than 2 grams of heroine, 1 gram of cocaine, 30 grams of opium, 3 grams of morphine, or 60 grams of cannabis will be deemed complicit in drug trafficking.

The multilateral conventions to which Belize is a party are the following:

3. What reform proposals and reforms to the drug laws have recently occurred in the country?

WashingtonPost_NickMiroff The National Drug Abuse Control Council (NDACC) was established by the Government of Belize in 1988 to enforce and regulate the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1990. The original vision of the NDACC was proclaimed to be the promotion of “a drug-free Belize.” Jorge Espat, Minister of National Security & Immigration, said in 1999: “The task is urgent and the choice is clear: stamp out illicit drugs and its violence. Let us re-intensify the work to make all our territories unusable to drug traffickers and users, and in so doing make our region drug free.”

From 2000 - 2004, the Belize National Anti-Drug Strategy was established by the NDACC with assistance from the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). The Strategy was based on a five-year integrated approach with the following objectives: the establishment/improvement of treatment and rehabilitation facilities, along with a 50% reduction in the demand, availability, and trafficking of illicit drugs.

Promisingly, in 2012, the government of Belize released a press statement announcing the appointment of a committee to evaluate a proposal to decriminalise marijuana possession. The committee – to be headed by a former police minister – was appointed by the Minister of National Security. The proposal in question seeks to remove criminal sanctions for possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana and instead impose fines and mandatory drug education. Currently, possession of less than 60 grams of marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to US$26,000 and/or up to three years in prison.

The government’s press release states that the initiative “is driven by increasing evidence that the current legislation clutters the courts and the prisons with primarily a marginalized segment of our population. The added impact of a permanent criminal record further disadvantages this already marginalized group as it establishes a barrier against meaningful employment…This is further supported by international trends toward decriminalization.”

In march 2015 the Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee (DOMC) released its Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee Final Report 2015 recommending "That it not be a criminal offense for anyone to be found in possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana ..."

4. How have drug laws impacted the prison situation in the country?

cuffs The prison system within Belize is both under-equipped and overcrowded. With 495 prisoners per 100,000 citizens, Belize has the 9th highest per-capita prison population in the world. The 1996 Belize Prison Drug Prevalence Survey conducted by the National Drug Abuse Control Council (NDACC) found that 57.9 % of the prison population were incarcerated due to some form of involvement with illicit drugs, while 35.6% were arrested due to drug possession or trafficking.

The presence and influence of drug cartels has also sharply affected the amount of crime in Belize. Between 2000 and 2011, the intentional homicide rate in Belize more than doubled to a level 4 times that of Costa Rica, 3 times that of Nicaragua, and 2 times that of Panama. Only El Salvador and Honduras had higher murder rates than Belize among Central American nations in 2011. In 2012, Belize’s homicide rate passed that of El Salvador to take second place behind Honduras. The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report noted that: “Citizen security deteriorated countrywide in 2012. There were 145 homicides over the course of the year, surpassing Belize’s all-time high of 129 in 2010.”

5. What does the law say about consumption? Is drug consumption a crime in the country?

Drug consumption is currently outlawed in Belize. But there is no significance attached to the distinction of the various quantities of possession except where it passes the threshold of 60 grams. This means that the record may well reflect the crime and not the sum, criminalising all offenders regardless of the extent of the 'possession'. The Misuse of Drugs Act also does not provide a guideline for the imposition of penalties along the spectrum to make a distinction with respect to the various quantities, it only provides that for possession, the penalty shall be three years or BZ$500.000 (US$25.000) or both. The discretion is left with the court to make a determination within the dictated range dependent upon the quantity that is found in the possession of the offender. This has been found to create uncertainty and inequity, since it is unlikely that two or more courts faced with an offender found in possession of the same quantum, will impose the same penalty.

6. What provisions does the law make for problem drug users? Does the law guarantee that their rights will be respected?

The treatment and rehabilitation options for problem drug users in Belize are very limited. Psychiatric nurse practitioners currently provide counselling and intervention for drug and alcohol abuse, however this service is expensive and severely limited in availability. The Belize National Anti-Drug Strategy also notes that there is a lack of coordination among research agencies as well as among treatment centers.

Currently, Belizean law does not have a program for “first offence” drug users. There is also no national policy or set standards requiring the assessment and treatment of institutionalised individuals.

However, a recent development was the March 2014 announcement that Belize is progressing towards the establishment of a drug court with assistance from the Organization of American States (OAS). Dianne Finnegan, coordinator of the Youth Apprenticeship Program, said that sending youth involved in drug-related crimes to rehabilitation centres rather than prisons would ease their recovery and reintegration into society. Abdulmajeed Nunez, former employee of the Belize Central Prison, mentioned a proposal for a first offenders program that would eliminate the criminal records of first-offence drug users.

7. How does Belize position itself in the international debate on drug policy?

Belizean-American relations

Like many other Latin American nations, Belize receives funding and aid from the United States in anti-narcotic measures to reduce both drug trafficking and consumption inthe country. The Belizean government has received about $15 million in U.S. security assistance since 2008, including boats, communications equipment, and funding for training programs.

However, it is apparent that there is tension surrounding the strict anti-narcotic goals that Washington D.C. envisions for Belize. In 2011, Belize was added to the USA’s “blacklist” of nations considered to be major producers or transit routes for illegal drugs. Additionally, the 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the U.S. State Department indicated that “Belize’s counter-narcotics efforts are hampered by corruption, deficiencies in intelligence gathering and analysis, an antiquated judicial sector, and a lack of political will.”

Belize is situated at the heart of the cocaine pipeline from South Mexico to the United States; as a result, approximately 10 tons of cocaine (with a street value in excess of half a billion dollars) passes through Belize each year. Despite millions of dollars each year in policing and military assistance from the USA, in addition to contributions from Canada and the United Kingdom, Belize’s security forces and coastal guards remain woefully under-equipped. The country lacks basic radar systems to track unauthorised flights, the military doesn’t have helicopters, and cellphone communications cannot be intercepted. The Minister of Police acknowledges these deficiencies, claiming that “we’re operating in the 1960s in terms of tools and technology.”

Belize and the U.N.

In recent years, Belize has taken a promisingly proactive stance towards highlighting the issue of drug reform amongst the international community. In November 2012, Belize was one of 7 Latin America countries to put forth a U.N. General Assembly a motion to debate alternative approaches to the war on drugs. The idea was initially proposed in September 2012 when Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia issued a joint statement questioning the efficacy of current drug laws and anti-narcotics strategies. The resolution received the support of 95 countries present at a November 2012 General Assembly meeting, and the drug policy summit (UNGASS on drugs) is now scheduled to take place in 2016.

8. What role has civil society played in the debate on drugs?

Most notably, the Belize National Anti-Drug Strategy was developed with the input and participation of more than 40 participants with a multi sectorial focus. The following non-governmental bodies and civil society institutions contributed to the formation of the Strategy:

• Council of Churches

• Legal profession

• Non-government organizations

• Rehabilitation & treatment centers

9. Relevant drug laws and policy documents in the country

Legislative and Government Documents

Belize National Anti-Drug Strategy 2000 - 2004

Belize. Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, Revised edition 2000 showing the law as at 31st December, 2000

Belize Decriminalization of Marijuana Committee. Final Report 2015

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