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Last week, as we drove to the Berkeley Institute, my middle child told me about a conversation she had with another student who felt Bermuda ought to legalise marijuana. I listened to my daughter and then thought it best to speak sensibly to my child before teen peer pressure caused her to lose her right mind and take on the mind of those who were obviously not thinking too well.

Hence, I did something which tends to irritate my daughter, as it means that I will not give her a direct answer. No. I set up the response with an historical reference or example, so that by the time I finished with the reference, she would have worked out the logical answer herself.

Psalms 27:11 - Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

I spoke and shared with my daughter that there was a time when alcohol was illegal. That meant there was a market for underground alcohol known as "moonshine". Seeing that this liquor was not legal, it meant that people were willing to pay whatever price to attain it. It also meant that there were those who worked against the law to produce this liquor.

Unfortunately, the desire for this illegal substance was great and therefore there was a market - a people who wanted it and would pay for it. Hence there was this illegal crowd who "benefited" from their illegal activity.

When alcohol became legal

The day dawned when alcohol became legal; the market was now open. No longer was the profit of the substance belonging to the crowd in the shadows. No, "Front Street" could now get into the business.

The real profit now moved from the backstreets to Front Street. It was now a legal business and therefore there were established businesses that would now make the money. Hence, the profit was taken out of the "hood" and into the offices of the new and beautiful liquor stores.

Now along comes marijuana. Once again we are dealing with the same thing. In very much the same way, it is following the path of "moonshine". The profit currently belongs to those lurking in the dark places. Whoever they are that sell these illegal substances, they are not able to manoeuvre in this way publically.

Believe this, the "businessmen" would love to legalise this substance. For just as there is now profit on the selling of alcohol, can you imagine marijuana stores. Who do you think would profit from a legal business of selling marijuana?

How sad and disappointing it is to know that so many folks do not get it. How terribly sad it is to hear some speaking for legalising marijuana, as if they cannot see what legalising alcohol has done.

Have we forgotten the role that legalizing alcohol has played in road deaths, family disputes, divorce cases, and a lack of education? Have we been fooled into believing that legalising marijuana will somehow make things better? How sad to know that the current marijuana users do not understand that what they see as a benefit will actually become another substance ruining the future of many a family.

Well, I then challenged my daughter to think about the next "substance" that users would seek to legalise. I challenged her to think about what it is that is now legal in America, but is still illegal here. I asked her to think about what is creeping in the island but is not supposed to be here. I wonder if you know. Yes, guns! They are illegal in Bermuda and legal in America. Oh, once we open the floodgates, the waters will flow in.

Legalising guns?

Before we know it, there will be those who believe that guns should be legal and that it is their legal right to defend against criminals by protecting themselves with guns. Yes, to some this sounds outlandish and out of the radar of possibility. Yet, during this Senior Citizens' month, let me state that as they hear about heroin, cocaine, and guns in Bermuda, this is something that our seniors would have never imagined back in their day.

I really don't get it. Why would we consider legalizing those things which have nothing but a venomous sting of death associated with them. Yes, I know the answer. Someone stands to benefit. What we must understand is that it is not the ordinary struggling citizen who will benefit. It will be only those who can build the business and make the profit, while our island becomes more toxic.

PS: My daughter got it, but what was really wonderful was that as we listened to the radio show in the afternoon, she heard another person give a similar explanation of why marijuana should remain illegal.

We cannot legalise any drug that has proven to be a detriment to the individual, the family, and our society. Stop the nonsense and begin to think about the good of the people and your own good. Respice finem.

Rev. Dr. Maria Seaman serves as the Pastor of Shekinah Worship Centre, worshipping at the Victor Scott Primary School, Glebe Road, Pembroke.

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