IF there is any move to legalise marijuana in this country, the recent antics by Sport Minister Anil Roberts is good reason not to support it, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday.

Speaking at a news conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader at Charles Street, Port of Spain, Rowley said he was told this by someone yesterday.

Last week TV6 News aired a video in which a man who looks and speaks like a Government minister was captured rolling a marijuana joint.

[continues 260 words]

Former independent senator Dana Seetahal had advocated for a drug court to be established in this country.

Seetahal served as an independent senator from 2002 to 2010. In 2007, she contributed to the debate on a private motion moved by former independent senator Ramesh Deosaran which focused on the then People's National Movement (PNM) Government handling of the crime situation.

She had expressed concern about the drug trade and the increased addiction to cocaine and heroin.

"So you know when I hear this acknowledgement of this and we have all this crime, look at what is happening in the world and so on; yes, yes, but what are we doing here? Why is there no drug court? When I say drug court, I am not talking about a court called, "Drug and firearms court" where you try people charged with drug offences," Seetahal had said.

[continues 190 words]

I am 16 years of age and I disapprove of the suggestion that marijuana be decriminalised or legalised. Why would anyone even think about doing that? Did you people even think before making that statement? Knowing the people of this nation, you give them an inch and they take a yard.

You think allowing them to have a certain quantity of marijuana would make them ease up on it? No. They would think to themselves, "The Government has made it LEGAL". They're not going to accept that only certain quantities are permitted. Did you people think about the repercussions of legalising it? I don't think so.

[continues 154 words]

WHAT most people know about cannabis also known as marijuana is that they were born in a world where the American government leads the way in levelling prosecution of the plant? Most people have no personal experience with marijuana. Most people have no personal eye witness accounts of the effects of cannabis (medicinal or hallucinogenic) from which to draw from to testify of the effects of cannabis on the human body.

Most people don't know that the human body produces cannabinoids, a class of diverse chemical compounds that activate cannabinoid receptors on cells that repress neurotransmitter release in the brain. These receptor proteins include the endocannabinoids (produced naturally in the body by humans and animals), the phytocannabinoids (found in cannabis and some other plants), and synthetic cannabinoids (produced chemically by humans). The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound of cannabis. These receptor proteins have host of positive effects on living tissue. Most people are acutely ignorant to the fact that cannabis is recorded as one of the oldest positive medicinal plants used on the planet. Most people don't know that ironically the United States is among the top six countries in the world leading the way in cannabis research. The other five top countries spearheading cannabis research are Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, United Kingdom and The Netherlands.

[continues 282 words]

Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza says the Caribbean region needs to have a serious debate about the drug problem. "It is very important that the discussions that we started at the assembly of the OAS only a month ago can open a way for a debate on the matter. We have been worrying about the issue of drugs for the last 40 years. A lot of drugs were confiscated in 2010, but half of the cocaine that was produced was confiscated. Sadly, the drug trade continues," Insulza said.

[continues 209 words]

Those of you who follow the war on drugs would notice that Sir Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin group, and a member of the UN Global Commission on Drug policy has publicly come out in favour of ending the war on drugs by decriminalising the use of illegal substances.

Now some of you would naturally be thinking what Sir Richard has been smoking himself to come out with such a radical stance. Well, if you read his latest article on the matter "End the war on drugs- Crime shouldn't pay", he clearly points that apart from being very expensive the global war has not been very effective.

[continues 271 words]

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Barbados late last week in what was the final leg of a Latin American and Caribbean tour -- that also included stops in Peru and Colombia. Gates' visit to Barbados, where he held talks with regional security chiefs, has been viewed by experts as an attempt to gauge progress in the Obama administration's Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, which was launched in late December 2009. It remains unknown at the time of writing whether a security delegation from Trinidad & Tobago attended the talks. When contacted on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman at the Ministry of National Security could shed no further light on the matter. "I am not sure who, if anyone, will be attending. We are in the middle of an election campaign and they are busy with that at the moment."

[continues 921 words]

Nazma muller talks to Onwubiko Agozino, a professor of sociology and a graduate of Edinburgh University in Scotland, Cambridge University in England and Calabar University in Nigeria. A lecturer in criminology at UWI, he had some very interesting propositions for the Government on how to solve crime.

Q: Professor, how long have you been in Trinidad?

A: I have been here since August 2006.

So you know what's happening on the crime scene. What insights can you give a society that feels it's under siege?

[continues 1511 words]

Probe Into Missing Marijuana, Cocaine

Investigators probing the disappearance of 28 blocks of compressed marijuana and four kilogrammes of cocaine from the scene of a crime are now in a quandary, having received information that two police officers were in cahoots with drug dealers.

Investigators initially believed that the disappearance of the drugs came after the drug dealers fled the scene after a shoot-out with police in Maraval. However, new information suggests that the drug dealers were working alongside a rogue senior officer in transporting the drugs to its destination.

[continues 407 words]

Rowley On US Revelations:

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Keith Rowley says a recent United States government report that says the majority of cocaine exported to this country arrives at the nation's sea ports is "nothing new".

"I'm not in a position to speak on this matter as you may have wanted. That is a matter of national security. I am not too familiar with the United States report and its assessment of this ongoing problem," Rowley said.

He added, "Every year we get a report like that. It's never different. There's nothing new there."

[continues 249 words]

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO is winning the war against money laundering and terrorist financing, two of the major spin-off crimes of the international trade in illegal drugs, within its borders.

This finding was contained in the second volume of the US State Department's International Narcotics Report 2008. The first volume of this report said while this country is a transit point for illegal drugs, no senior government official in this country was charged with drug-related corruption in 2007 and Government "does not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions."

[continues 284 words]

Over 200 people walked in support of Errol Fabiens "Freedom Walk for a drug free T&T" at midnight yesterday.

The Sunday Express was on hand as Project Manager Neil Giuseppi thanked and welcomed the walkers, most of whom wore white t-shirts with the name of the march printed on their chest.

Beginning at 12.01 a.m., the 24-hour walk was said to be the first time anyone has ever made that major step and commitment to walk from Icacos to the Audrey Jeffers Highway at MovieTowne on the Western Pennisula for a drug free country.

[continues 310 words]

The storage rooms at police stations across the country are stuffed to the roof with marijuana because for the past six years, none have been destroyed, says Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.

At the end of each drug case, the narcotics would be ordered to be destroyed in Chaguaramas, an exercise done twice to four times yearly.

The pile up, he said, was causing confusion with the tracking of exhibits, and resulting in cases against drug accused being dismissed.

Police in the Southern and South Western Divisions told the Express that there were problems with the disposal of drug exhibits, and that accurate property room record-keeping was being compromised.

[continues 121 words]

Bobo Shanti Rastafarians will celebrate their Christmas today. One of the elders of the religious sect, Priest Nyah, said the 500 members of his commune at Wharf Trace, Maracas, St Joseph, will mark the "birth of the Earth" with fasting and prayers from 6 a.m. to noon, followed by an evening of song and celebration.

The commune, which is part of the Ethiopian Black African International Congress, has been in existence since 1984, and the compound includes a church, living and eating quarters, a school and a conference room.

[continues 197 words]

Manning's Crime Pledge For 08:

'Measures In Place': Prime Minister Patrick Manning

Prime Minister Patrick Manning is confident that the crime situation, though difficult, will improve in 2008.

And Manning said his Government was moving to "completely eradicate" the drug problem, which was the major source of crime and violence in the country.

Speaking after a tour of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Port of Spain Waterfront yesterday, Manning expressed confidence that Government had put the correct measures in place and that, given time, they would bring about the improvements that everyone wishes.

[continues 313 words]

WOMEN who take the rap for relatives on drug charges should not expect the court to be lenient with them.

In a stern warning yesterday, acting Chief Justice Roger Hamel-Smith said the courts have become wise to the practice of women, especially pregnant mothers, taking the rap for their children.

"It has become the trick of the trade," Hamel-Smith said during the hearing of magisterial appeal cases in the San Fernando High Court.

Yesterday Hamel-Smith, and Justice Stanley John ordered a 51-year-old mother to pay $15,000 in 14 days, or serve three years hard labour for the possession of 12 grammes of cocaine.

[continues 143 words]

As a former head of the Firearms and Interdiction Unit and with his experience as a detective with the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit, Supt Chandrabhan Maharaj is better placed than most to be informed about the involvement of fellow officers in both the illegal gun and drug trades, the more so because the two are demonstrably connected.

Accusations of police corruption in general and involvement in both gun and drug rackets in particular are not new but the superintendent's allegations clearly deserve the greatest weight since he is in a position to have extensive insider information that, properly handled, will blow the proverbial whistle on at least some of his crooked comrades.

[continues 311 words]

Senior Officer Refuses Promotion

An investigation has been launched into claims made by a Police Superintendent that police officers are involved in the drug and guns trade in the Southern Division.

The allegation that rampant corruption exists in the division was made by Supt Chandrabhan Maharaj, in a letter written to Police Commissioner Trevor Paul.

In the letter, Maharaj, who is in charge of the Princes Town Police Station, refused to accept a promotion to the position of Acting Senior Superintendent in charge of the entire Southern Division because of the alleged crooked activities of police officers.

[continues 317 words]

A San Fernando man who spent six months longer in jail than necessary emerged from custody defiant yesterday, saying he wanted the use of marijuana legalised.

"I looking for freedom to smoke marijuana in peace," 67-year-old Uric Merrick said, adding that he used the drug for meditation.

Merrick, a professed Christian, said he did not understand why the use of the drug was illegal, when it could be used for the "right" purposes.

High Court Judge Gregory Smith ordered his release from prison yesterday-almost one year after Merrick had been sentenced to six months in custody for possession of marijuana.

[continues 192 words]

A SENIOR attorney yesterday called for the introduction of random drug testing for all police officers to be included as part of the new regulations governing the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

Israel Khan said members from the Police Commissioner to any constable should subject themselves to periodical tests, as he welcomed the new measures aimed at weeding out unsuitable people from joining the service.

People with chronic gambling problems should also be debarred from joining the Police Service, he said.

[continues 280 words]