Pubdate: Thu, 03 Nov 2005
Source: Royal Gazette, The (Bermuda)
Copyright: 2005 The Royal Gazette Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.theroyalgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2103

BERMUDA'S DRUGS CZAR

Premier Alex Scott's appointment this week of a Cabinet-level "drugs
czar" deserves two cheers, but not three. Drugs are one of the most
serious problems facing the community.

They are, in the words of Mr. Scott, at the root of much of crime. The
costs of the damage done as a result of addiction to individuals,
families, businesses and the social fabric are immeasurable. The
Government budget devoted directly and indirectly to drug
interdiction, drug-related crime and demand reduction must be in the
tens of millions of dollars, if not the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Much has been written about how disaffected youth are drawn to the
drug trade, tempted both by the easy financial rewards and the street
credibility that goes with the drugs culture. Often it takes years for
people to realise what a disastrous choice that is, if it ever
happens. So a single agency or Ministry dedicated to dealing with the
problem is a step in the right direction. That is why this newspaper
objected to the decision to fold the National Drugs Commission into
the Ministry of Health and Family Services earlier this year. The
reversal of that decision is welcome.

And Wayne Perinchief, the new Minister, comes fairly well qualified. A
former senior Police officer and head of the narcotics department, he
was also a member of the National Drugs Commission, so he is well
acquainted with the need to reduce both demand and supply.

Having said that, it is far from clear what Mr. Perinchief will be
able to do in his new post, since he controls few of the agencies that
are on the front lines of the so-called war on drugs.

It would appear that he will have control over the NDC, so at least he
will be able to direct policy on rehabilitation and public awareness.
But the Police will remain under Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton,
so Mr. Perinchief's influence there will be indirect.

Nor will he have any direct control over the Customs Service, which
shares responsibility with the Police for stopping drugs shipments at
the Island's shores.

Given the necessary separation between the courts and the executive of
Government, he will not have control over the drugs court or the
Bermuda Assessment and Referral Centre. Much the same problems have
faced the "drugs czars" appointed in the US, whose ability to effect
change in that country's massive drug habit has been relatively minimal.

Mr. Perinchief may have sufficient respect among his colleagues and
the community at large to forge an alliance that will really combat
drugs. But he will have to do that more through his powers of
persuasion than through the tools at hand.

All of that supports the cynical view that Mr. Perinchief's
appointment had more to do with politics than drugs, and that this is
a sop to the "Brown wing" following the appointment of Lt. Col. David
Burch as Works and Housing Minister last week. Mr. Perinchief has been
one of the more independent Progressive Labour Party backbenchers, and
with a now presumably disaffected Ashfield DeVent on the backbenches,
Mr. Scott may have felt the need to bring at least one maverick into
the tent.

There might have been an opportunity here to split the Works and
Housing Ministries, given that housing is another crisis issue for the
community, or to do that and to create the drugs czar post.

That would have been possible because Walter Lister remains a Minister
without Portfolio. Mr. Lister is a strong MP and a PLP stalwart, but
one wonders why it is necessary to have a Minister without a Ministry
when there are so many pressing issues to be tackled.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin