Latest update February 5th, 2025 11:03 AM
Time to stop jailing our youths for such a “crime”
Dear Editor,
I read the caption; “Charlestown youth sentenced to prison for marijuana possession” and I read over two years in jail for having in her possession 4ozs of cannabis (pot).
And I could not help saying OMG! What are we doing to our youths? What would happen to this young woman when she gets out of prison? She did not steal i.e. deprive someone of their property. She did not wound or kill someone. She was not selling cocaine. She was selling something that so many people in this country use; from doctors to lawyers to bums. It in no way causes the pain and suffering inflicted on the person, the family, and society as does alcohol which is consumed like it is going out of style.
In many of the federal states in the USA, a person is given a ticket for possession. Why? It is because it has been declassified as a narcotic. In many states it is legalised while in some it’s legal for medicinal purposes. We are incarcerating youths for pot when our prison system is overcrowded. A youth found in possession is jailed. He then associates with hardened criminals. There is no reintroduction into society. He is a jail bird. What are the chances that he would continue a life of crime to sustain himself and family?
He works, earns a salary, uses some to buy pot to feed his wife and children, is caught and sent to prison. Now who is there to maintain his family? He comes out of prison. No job and so because of the need to provide for his family he is recruited by the criminal gangs. Maybe caught and again sent to the overcrowded prisons. Let’s not forget there is a cost to the taxpayers for keeping him in prison. A cost we could ill afford. The combined cost is too much.
This money could be better served in educating and in rehabilitating. There is presently no anti-drug education programme going on. Mr. Michael Carrington MP, some time ago tabled a bill in parliament. This bill is still there. It does not call for the legalisation of pot but calls for the removal of the mandatory sentencing which prevents the magistrates from using their discretion. It also calls for the increase of the amount above which it is classified as trafficking.
This is an appeal to the Prime Minister who is the leader of Parliament to have this piece of legislation see the light of day. I am calling upon His Excellency the President to save the youths of this country from unnecessary incarceration.
I am calling on Mr. Joseph Harmon, Minister of State to look seriously into this social problem. And I am calling on the newly elected General Secretary of the AFC, Mr. Marlon Williams to initiate discussion on this matter within the AFC. At the same time, I am calling on the President to consider initiating a national discussion with regards marijuana production and use.
Rajendra Bisessar
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