Nothing quite like being between a rock and a hard place, Mr Editor. It is no fun and you can’t bail. It’s very much like that in politics.

There are two big issues that are looming that are not going to go away:

• The decriminalisation or, maybe even, the legalisation and lawful control of marijuana

• Same-sex marriage and equality for all under the law.

Both are coming to our shores — if you catch my drift.

They will be hard to continue to ignore. Recent polls here and abroad are indicating a decided shift in public opinion and they confirm that new majorities are taking shape.

The time has come. The issue now is how we best prepare.

We have seen how they have handled these issues in other jurisdictions. Governments poll the people: referendums.

I know, I know, strictly speaking it is referenda. But like a lot of people out there, who are not Latin scholars, I prefer, like them, to call them referendums.

They let the people speak — and speak they did most recently in Ireland.

There were also votes that preceded changes in the law on marijuana in some of the United States of America.

We don’t have a strong history on referendums here in Bermuda, although we have had two in recent times: one on capital punishment (a yawn, it was) and another on the infamous I-word, independence (and a big hit that was).

We also now have on our books an Act that provides the legal apparatus for referendums: the aptly named Referendum Act 2012. You may or may not remember its passage.

It was put through by the then PLP Government in anticipation of a referendum on gambling. That was just before the last election when it lost power to the OBA.

We thought we were going to get one from the OBA when it was elected. But it elected, er, sorry, decided to renege on that promise and proceeded instead a year or so later to casino gaming on the basis of a vote in the Legislature. It was the neverendum referendum that never was.

Interestingly, the OBA is also the party that promised us more referendums — or at least the right to initiate them. That was also one of their key pledges in their 2012 election platform on “good governance”. We have not heard any more since.

Referendums happen to be a convenient way for political parties to deal with so-called wedge issues.

These are the controversial, the hot potato issues that divide communities and often along fault lines that have been around for time immemorial. Or so it seems. Sound familiar? Think Bermuda, think race.

It is not always a matter of doing the right thing when it comes to politics. The party in power never wants to get too far out front on any of those issues for fear the other will use it as a wedge to pry away support at the polls. We all know the deal and how that works.

Mind you, there are also those who regard referendums as a cop-out. Call it the Edmund Burke approach to politics: MPs are elected for their judgment and not to slavishly follow the wishes of constituents. You “takes your chances” on that one today — or do it at your electoral peril is the well-known local expression.

That approach might have worked in the 18th century but this is the 21st century. People want to have their say, and technology, with which people are increasingly familiar and comfortable, is making polling views so much easier.

Political parties do it all the time: polling people, that is — if they have the money. If you have ever been polled, you know how desperate they are to know who and what you like. It happens to pay at the polls to be calculated rather than brave on controversial issues and, better still, to have done your calculations when appearing brave.

The people of Greece are about to have their say on the proposed bailout terms. The result, if nothing else, will be instructive. It may even be determinative.

The people, those most affected one way or the other, will have had their say. There’s a lot to be said for that and a referendum that is one sure way for their voices to be heard. The pros and cons get aired, and disagreement accommodated by way of argument and by a vote. You may think that sufficient reason to make referendums an integral part of the political landscape here in Bermuda, Mr Editor.

Or not?

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