St. Anthony’s Secondary School (SASS) emerged the winner of the Inter-Secondary School Debate Series for the third consecutive year, at the end of the 2019 finals on Tuesday.
Jazz Diaz and Vida Betances led their school to victory, with Antigua Girls’ High School’s Nathania Silston and Shauntay Joseph settling for second place, a release from the Ministry of Education said.
During the finals, the two teams debated the moot “The government’s move to legalise marijuana for medicinal purposes will bring significant benefits to Antigua and Barbuda”.
‘The proposition, AGHS, in supporting the moot outlined job creation, the health benefits of medicinal marijuana for people living with non-communicable diseases and increased revenue for the government among other points as they set the stage for the encounter with their opponents. St. Anthony’s Secondary, though serving as opposition, made known their support for the moot, but raised several concerns where the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal purposes and its benefits nationally are concerned,” the release said.
St. Anthony’s Secondary cited the high cost associated with the acquisition of a licence and pointed out that it will be out of reach for the ordinary Antiguan and Barbudan who may be interested in getting into the marijuana industry.
SASS also stated, among other points, that the industry will likely attract overseas investors thereby creating the situation where profits will not remain in the country.