Pubdate: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 Source: Daily News (Tanzania) Copyright: 2007 TSN Contact: http://www.dailynews-tsn.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4552 Author: Miriam Makalla ANTI NARCOTICS BOSS - JAIL TERMS MORE DETERRENT THE Drug Control Commissioner, Christopher Shekiondo, has proposed long imprisonment for drug dealers as a way to curb trafficking in narcotics. Mr Shekiondo noted in Dar es Salaam yesterday when opening a seminar for educators and counsellors on drugs and HIV that jail terms could be more effective than mere fines. "For example one foreign drug baron was arrested at the airport with drugs worth 60 million shillings in street value but was fined to pay one million shillings only and freed," Mr Shekiondo explained. He said that the current fines were not effective in curbing the problem because the accused did not feel the pain and went on with the business as usual. He explained that it was estimated that more than 250 million people worldwide were drug abusers, among them more than 162 million used cannabis. The data from police indicated significant increase in quantities of drugs seized each year in the country reflecting a rise in availability of those drugs on streets. For instance, about 7.3 kg of heroin and 160 grams of cocaine were seized in 2005 while in 2006 about 92 kg of heroin and 4kg of cocaine were impounded. In recent years Tanzania has been among countries with the highest seizures of cannabis in the world and probably the leading in Africa. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek