Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 Source: Daily Nation (Barbados) Copyright: 2006, Nation Publishing Co. Limited Contact: http://www.nationnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2249 Author: Robert Best ILLEGAL DRUGS AND CWC WHILE we have been hearing about how we will set out to stymie any attempts by prostitutes to cash in on opportunities for increased business during the upcoming Cricket World Cup, little is being heard about a more challenging possibility. It is that there will be an increased demand for illegal drugs and the dealers can be expected to go all out to cash in on this opportunity. The increased demand for the drugs will stem not only from the increased numbers of people coming to see the cricket who use illegal drugs in their country. It will be boosted by those who now have legal access to such drugs, because the possession of them is no longer regarded as "illegal" where they come from. We need to consider the problem we will face when cricket fans from countries like England and Holland where citizens are allowed to legally purchase small quantities of a drug like marijuana for personal use. The crunch is that even in small quantities marijuana is addictive. These fans will not be leaving their addiction at home when they come our way. Of course we can tell the fans from early that we jail or fine the users of illegal drugs. We can also alert travel agents to warn fans booking their flights for the cricket, that while the smoking of marijuana might be permitted in their countries, in the islands of the Caribbean it is against the law. In spite of this we know that some fans who are addicted to "pot" but love cricket as well, will take their chances and this creates the challenge we will face wherever the cricket is played. We also know that in a number of the islands, which shall be nameless, where matches will be played, there is easy access to marijuana if only because it is grown in these places in large quantities. It is all illegal of course but . . . we know. We also know that there will be those who are just waiting to cash in through this "informal market". It is certain that fans who want illegal drugs will soon learn where to go to obtain their supplies. The extent to which such supplies will be moving around in, and between, the islands where the cricket is being played can become a matter of concern. The opportunity will be there for this movement since we already anticipate that intensive body searches, and so on, at all points of entry could be a problem by hampering the flow of human traffic where it is heavy. And we expect some really large numbers for the cricket. It Will Not Be Easy. It has also been shown, where a recent case is concerned, that relying on mere profiling to determine who are likely to be in possession of illegal drugs can create additional problems. When it is used and the "suspect" is caught with some "illegal substance" we have it to our credit. However, we cannot hope to go around asking visitors to consent to body searches and when nothing illegal is discovered on them, smile politely and ask them to move on. Such a procedure will soon mark us down as being inhospitable to, and suspicious of those we have encouraged to come for the World Cup. The signs are that for the season of the World Cup we might have to be prepared to allow, as they say, some growth of tares along with the wheat since efforts to dig out all the tares could prove embarrassing if we make a wrong move. There will be those who will go all out to exploit the situation, but then it will still be up to us to decide the extent to which we will permit any tares to grow with the wheat. Blatant actions on the part of those handling and using illegal drugs is not something that we might be minded to disregard, while those who are cashing in on offering private accommodation to the cricket fans could face similar challenges. It may not be possible for them to know beforehand any idiosyncrasies of their guests. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine