Possible reforms of the Island’s cannabis laws have been welcomed by veteran politicians Delaey Robinson and Ashfield DeVent.

But the former Progressive Labour Party MPs also questioned the rationale of the current debate on cannabis — and cautioned against rushing in.

As a PLP backbencher in 2000, Mr Robinson incited controversy when he called for an end to the “stop list” for people caught with the drug and even more so when he advocated outright decriminalisation.

Mr Robinson said yesterday that his views hadn’t changed.

“The whole country should be realistic about this,” he said. “The reality is that young peoples’ brains are vulnerable to psychosis from cannabis below the age of 21.

“This isn’t the case for all of them but the danger is that we don’t know who would be vulnerable and who wouldn’t. That’s my main problem with opening up.”

Simple prohibition had proved itself to be “a stupid idea”, he said.

“It’s self defeating. The more you up the ante, the higher the price and the more attractive it is for entrepreneurs to supply it.

“A more educated approach to the topic is what’s required, rather than just opening the gates.”

Mr Robinson pointed out that the black community tended to bear the brunt of anti-cannabis laws, and said he now regretted that he hadn’t taken a stronger stance as an MP.

“That was particularly gruelling when the PLP government came in because we had a black government locking up black youth with legislation imported from America,” he said.

“The stupid thing legislators say is ‘It’s their fault — they should know the law’. Bermuda has done itself a vast disservice. Think of the huge cost, not just socially but economically, that it’s had for us.”

A conviction for cannabis, regardless of quantity, brings with it a travel ban to the US that can last for decades.

Asked if politicians and the general public had refused to take him seriously because of his Rastafarian-style locks, Mr Robinson laughed that forming assumptions based on peoples’ hair was “madness”.

However, he didn’t believe he had been discriminated against on that count.

“I was quite amazed by the respect that I got, including from a significant sector of the white community.

“I don’t think it was ‘anti-dread’ people — people weren’t listening because, let’s face it, there has been 50 years or more of propaganda, especially by the US government.

“People blithely believed it. So you would expect people not to take seriously the lone voice of a politician.”

Mr Robinson questioned whether legalisation would present “the same mistake as was made in taking up prohibition in the first place”.

“The big mistake would be not addressing the problem that freely available cannabis presents to the youth,” he said. “Because Government has made this prohibition, my big fear is that nothing could be done sensibly to warn them of possible dangers, because young people won’t believe it.”

Mr Robinson didn’t remain a voice in the wilderness for long — fellow former PLP MP Ashfield DeVent spoke out against criminalising cannabis more than ten years ago.

“I’m happy to see this debate come back to the fore although I’m a little sceptical as well,” Mr DeVent said.

“Both sides of the political divide seem to be talking about this very suddenly — one has to wonder if it’s a move to attract young voters, particularly when you look at how close the election was. I wonder if they’re trying to pander to the youth vote.

“It was in 2002 that I raised it publicly as an aspiring politician. I was saying we should have decriminalisation.

“My primary concern was that we were criminalising people who were otherwise good, hard working citizens.

“As a reporter I would see people pulled to the courts and getting a criminal record for minuscule amounts. I thought it was criminal.

“I continued to beat the drum and it never really got any traction within the PLP — nor with the then-United Bermuda Party.”

Mr DeVent, who also has locks, added: “I think part of it is that, at that time, the only people bold enough to stand up and speak seemed to be people who had dreads.

“I think some people looked at it as a pot head speaking. At the time, I had stopped smoking.”

With the headlines generated by Colorado’s move into legal sales — plus the revenue generated — Mr DeVent said much of the fresh debate was following the US.

“I’m glad to see the debate but we must proceed cautiously,” he said. “Like most things in Bermuda there seems to be a racial connotation with this.

“I believe that if we go the step of decriminalisation, more employers will be moving toward drug testing.

“A lot of people would be in trouble. It could be used to fire people. These are things that could be issues.”

Mr DeVent pointed out that legalising cannabis in Bermuda would open the door to the provider of the drug reaping enormous profits.

“It seems to me we’d be moving toward giving somebody the licence to cultivate,” he said, suggesting that it would be preferable to permit individuals to cultivate a specified number of plants for their own use.

He also echoed Mr Robinson’s concern over the possible damage to vulnerable peoples’ health.

“I know people who have smoked cannabis for 30, 40 years with no problem,” he said. “I’ve worked with people who smoked daily and were good workers.

“But I know a couple of people who have smoked it and flipped out.

“The message needs to be put out there to young people that there are ramifications to smoking.”