Fear Of Police Leads To Cocaine Overdose

Ann Marie Arbuckle fell to the floor and screamed yesterday when she was told that her son died from a drug overdose.

"I begged him not to go. I did not see him for three years and now that he out I was looking forward to spending time with my child," the mother of 11 wailed.

Nkosi Arbuckle, of Lower Hillside, San Fernando, died five hours later at the San Fernando General Hospital after swallowing a quantity of cocaine.

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The majority of drug abusers have been found to be in the transport, manufacturing and construction sectors.

And more women are imprisoned for drug trafficking, while men are imprisoned for possession.

This was revealed yesterday at the launch of the National Drug Observatory of Trinidad and Tobago (NDOTT) at the La Boucan, Hilton Trinidad. The Observatory is said to be the first of its kind in the region.

The NDOTT will provide information on the anti-drug initiative, including national, regional and international trends and research in drug use, production and trafficking. The National Drug Information System, (NDIS) is the statistical component of the NDOTT. The NDIS is a centralised collection point for data from key stakeholders and creates an environment for stakeholders which include the Prison, Immigration, Police, Tobago House of Assembly, NADAAP, and the Counter Crime Task Force, to collaborate, network and exchange information.

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MONEY owed for marijuana, police say, is the reason why shoemaker Crispin 'General' Thomas was shot and killed yesterday morning.

Thomas, 51, was shot in the chest around 4 a.m. yesterday and his body found about two hours later on some steps at Freedom Street, Waterhole, Cocorite.

Police are working on information that Thomas, who was a small time marijuana smoker, owed money for drugs he had bought and was killed because he did not pay up.

Thomas, who lived not far from where he was killed, is believed to have gone for an early morning run when he was shot in the chest at close range with a shotgun.

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When are people going to wake up and realise that the war on drugs (started by the US) is the main reason for the escalation in criminal activity.

Legalise and regulate drugs and you take away a valuable commodity from the black market. To put it simply: those who are in support of a drug war are supporting everything that comes with the black market.

Wake up, people. The war on drugs is more dangerous to everyone than drugs are. It is because drugs are illegal that people get killed over them. Wake up, corrupted and sleeping politicians. End the drug war now.

Eric Knudsen

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New Attack Helicopter Unit To Fight Crime

DESCRIBING crime as the "one dark cloud" hanging over this country, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday the Government was moving to purchase helicopters with attack capabilities and high-speed sea vessels, to wage a war against criminals, particularly those involved in the illicit drug trade.

Manning also said that a state-of-the-art radar system from Israel was now being installed to help detect criminal activity in Trinidad and Tobago waters.

He made these disclosures during yesterday's inaugural "Breakfast with the Prime Minister" at Crowne Plaza, Port of Spain. It was organised by the Public Relations Committee of the ruling People's National Movement (PNM) and had more than 500 guests.

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A day after police dug up a cache of drugs, guns and ammunition, drug addicts in Cedros have reportedly moved onto the beach in search of more illegal treasure.

Cedros Police said that reports on continuing police searches along the beaches in Icacos Village, Cedros were untrue.

Assistant Police Commissioner Dennis Graham said as far as he was aware, the police search was over, and they had found what they were looking for.

On Friday morning, police officers, some wearing hoods and heavily armed, stormed onto Los Gallos Beach, and dug up ten kilogrammes of cocaine, three handguns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.

A police officer at the Cedros Station said that the only activity on the beach yesterday were "sprangers who sleep there last night and start digging holes all about looking for drugs to smoke. They not breaking any laws".

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In the fight against crime there can be no compromise and there must be zero tolerance for those whose inefficiency is resulting in the escalation in criminal activity.

The statistics reveal that if the present trend remains unattended there will be about 250 murders at the end of 2004. This estimate is higher than the 229 murders committed in 2003.

The reality is that this Government has failed miserably in its duty to provide national security and it is time for citizens to send a clear and powerful message to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet that enough is enough!

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Carnival does affect the behaviour of some children. But Minister of Education Hazel Manning must make up her mind about the causes of the daily stabbings, sex trade, drug trade, bullying, gang wars and violence by students against each other or teachers.

Relying on advisers, she last week blamed drugs for the violence. The week before, she claimed the violence was a seasonal affair and that it will die down after Carnival. Both theories cannot be true, even if drugs may have a constant impact on many aspects of student behaviour.

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Police officers from the South Western division yesterday destroyed some 5,000 fully grown marijuana trees in the Mora Forest, Point Fortin, and arrested one man.

Police say they were on a special exercise in the area when they stumbled on the marijuana field. Two men were seen in the field and police succeeded in arresting one, while the other escaped.

The man is among 21 other people who will appear in court in Point Fortin tomorrow.

The other 20 people were held for various outstanding charges, ranging from marijuana possession to housebreaking.

Inspector Wells and Sgt Palloo, along with several police officers, began the special exercise around 5 a.m. yesterday and ended around noon.

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All narcotics, inclusive of cocaine, should be decriminalised and legalised.

This from criminologist Prof Maureen Cain, when she spoke on the topic "Criminogenesis and the War Against Crime" at the UWI Centre for Gender and Development Studies. Her contribution was from a paper she presented at a workshop on Women, Crime and Globalisation, Feminist Perspectives for the New Millennium, in Spain last year.

Prof Cain said that in the fight against the drug trade, western nations have opted for a demand reduction strategy, in spite of increasingly persuasive evidence that organised narcotics trading generates both more and new forms of violence.

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Research by Prof Ramesh Deosaran which was commissioned by the Ministry of Education provides clear evidence that illicit drugs are a major problem in secondary schools, particularly in the so-called prestige schools.

Four days after Education Minister Hazel Manning stated that violence in schools was linked to drugs, the ministry said yesterday that a 336-page report by Deosaran on "Violence and delinquency in the secondary school: Towards a culture of peace and civility "contains the results of a survey conducted on a sample of secondary schools throughout Trinidad, with the overall objective to study the apparent increase in violence and disruptive behaviour in secondary schools".

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'I smoke herb on a meditative vibe. It's a spiritual thing to me, yuh know whah ah mean?'

Reggae superstar Buju Banton

Like Michael Jackson, Buju Banton's latest troubles have received worldwide attention. His arrest three weeks ago for marijuana possession was carried as breaking news by Rolling Stone, MTV, Billboard, Yahoo, ABC News, the BBC, the Scotsman, the Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, even the Springfield News Sun in Ohio.

But unlike the Gloved One, the shocked outrage that greeted the Gargamel's crime was that a Jamaican reggae star should be arrested for smoking weed in the Land of Ganja. "A how dem can lock up Buju fi a likkle ting like that?! More fire!"

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Allow me to advance a few points to the great uncle and mother of Kevon Stewart, a student of Arima Senior Comprehensive School, who was sentenced to six months in prison for the possession of marijuana.

Kevon was fully aware that he was given marijuana to give to someone else. He had the option to say no or report the matter to the principal. He chose neither. He knew what he was doing was wrong.

It is a very flimsy and baseless excuse to say that he (Kevon) was afraid of the bullies in school.

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THE EDITOR: I would like to comment on a letter (December 16) from L Ramesar (headlined "Jail too harsh for schoolboy").

First of all, a crime was committed, it was also committed by an adult, regardless of schoolboy or not. It does not matter the amount or the quantity of marijuana, the matter is "possession of marijuana".

The magistrate made it clear that the next student appearing before her would go "straight to jail", so why must this come as a shock to us. "You do the crime, you serve the time."

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One wonders if the criminal element will suspend its kidnapping and killing activities on Christmas Day. But alas, this may be asking too much from a godless bunch of cowards who has sparked an extraordinary degree of fear in the hearts of thousands of citizens.

But this should not surprise us. John 8:44 states: "From the very beginning he was a murderer, and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies."

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Hemp Meister's New Project

He calls himself Keiser. A tall, slender, chocolate-skinned young man, who seemed to hold Zorro as his sartorial hero. An image in black-suit, shirt, head kerchief-he plays a short, lilting tune on a black recorder before regaling the small audience with a poetic "Discourse Between Knowledge and Wisdom." The conclusion? "The beginning of all wisdom is love."

And love-or at least mention of it-was all abound last Thursday night at the Conscious Cafe, Trinidad's newest "haven for creative expression"-love for your fellow man, love for the environment, love for "Jah," and finally love for hemp, the most misunderstood of herbs, the one that is definitely not marijuana.

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THE EDITOR:

Kevon Stewart is my great nephew. He is registered as a student of the Arima Senior Comprehensive School. He is a Form Five student and is 18 years old.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2003, Kevon was arrested on the school compound by a security guard with a 10-piece marijuana "tucked in his jersey under his school shirt wrapped in foil paper", as evidence provided by the prosecution.

Kevon is about five feet and weighs about 100 pounds or less. So emaciated is he, often, when looking at his features, reminds one of Jack Palance, the American film star. He is a single parent child, his father died about nine years ago. He was a cripple at death and yet in that disabled state provided for Kevon and his siblings as much as his good-heartedness allowed.

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The Editor: I was outraged and sickened to read that an 18-year-old student was sent to jail for six months with hard labour for having $10 worth of marijuana in the school compound.

This is much too harsh a punishment, especially if this is a first offence.

What is worse is that, according to one news report, the magistrate had announced earlier, after noting that several students had come before her on marijuana charges, that the next student would go "straight to jail".

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SIPARIA Police have stepped up their activities in the south-western district. Since last Friday a party of police officers have been engaged in a special police exercise to rid the area of drugs and illicit activities.

So far they have made 26 arrests and have destroyed a marijuana field in Sudama Village, Siparia. Fifteen thousand trees were destroyed and a man from the village is assisting the police.

Police have also found a number of stolen items in an abandoned house at Barrackpore and a villager from Cedros is assisting the police.

Spearheading the exercise are Senior Supt Alfonzo, acting Inspector Wells and other policemen from the Siparia CID

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UWI principal Dr Bhoe Tewarie is prepared to crack down on illegal drugs on the St Augustine campus.

"I want this campus to be a drug-free zone and I am prepared to deal severely with drugs, drug consumers and drug pushers," said Tewarie.

He made the statement last Friday when he addressed some 2,000 new students at the Freshers Orientation and Icebreaker Programme.

Up until Friday, there were 3,400 newly-registered students, some of whom were not at the orientation session, which was held at the Sport and Physical Education Centre on the campus.

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