Dear Editor,
From the time I know myself I have been eating sweet potatoes, yams, tanias, eddoes, avocados, plantains, bananas. you name it. And we had to eat them because it was "Good food". What I know
about Marijuana is that it was illegal and that millions of persons have been encarcerated for using and being in possession of it.
I am aware that anyone who is about to venture into a certain business does research first to find out if it is possible to do it easily or conveniently. So I assume this is the case with MP Peterson. I do not
know which is easier to produce, but I know that it takes plots of land to plant both sweet potatoes, etc. (provisions) as well as Marijuana. What part of the community is served with Marijuana, compared to what part of the community is served with provisions? Who will be profiting financially from the proceeds of Marijuana, both above and under the table. I have to ask that question because there
are still people voting for certain political parties because they are under the impression that certain politicians were instrumental in getting them their passport.
The government records will show that there are pensioners who are collecting the same pension today that they collected when they retired more than twenty years ago. I believe that more vigilance will be needed to avoid robbery of the Marijuana plants than the sweet potatoes or bananas, etc. How many people could a bunch of bananas serve compared to a Marijuana plant? Permit me to put some food for thought out there.
If we decide to plant potatoes,for instance, and we condemn convicts to community service by
working the ground, could that be a means of getting people to "work the ground". I am also thinking the same by "cleaning up" those drug and alchol-addicted persons. In my opinion Sint Maarten is not ready for the cultivation of Marijuana.
I have written this because several people wanted to know if MP Peterson knows what he is getting us into? I want to know, what about pension reform?
Russell A. Simmons
