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

[end]

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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There's more to Moruga than drugs.

Villagers will tell you about its rich history, excellent fishing grounds, breathtaking landscape. Some like Peter Glodon will says its where "civilisation" began in Trinidad, when 503 years ago Christopher Columbus landed at Moruga.

And many will say there has not been much progress since then in the little seaside village on the south east coast , where roads and public utilities are either non-existent or badly run down. And don't try using a cell-phone in Moruga.They don't work. As Fr Ian Taylor, parish priest for the area, will tell you.

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Whatever the general state of insecurity that now besets the world, the state of Trinidad and Tobago stems from the continuing climb in crime and, more specifically, the rise in the number of murders.

These murders run the full range from domestic to gang killings and while much has been said and written about the bloody crimes of passion there has been an ominous silence with respect to the murders that police have been ritually ascribing to drug-related gang warfare.

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) - Insurgent groups within Trinidad and Tobago have teamed up with drug cartels to try to destabilize the oil-rich southeastern Caribbean nation, its prime minister told troops participating in U.S.-Caribbean military exercises on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Basdeo Panday said his government's actions against drug traffickers had prompted reprisals.

"They have retaliated by targeting government, law enforcement officers and other public officials. Domestic terrorist and insurgent groups and agents are allied with the drug cartels in efforts to destabilize the state," Panday said.

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) - Police said they have made Trinidad's largest single drug haul, seizing cocaine with a street value estimated at $33 million disguised as a food shipment bound for Miami.

Nineteen men and women, including three brothers and a sister, appeared in a Port of Spain court on Wednesday charged with trafficking 1,120 pounds of cocaine. All were refused bail.

Police said the cocaine was found in sealed plastic bags marked ``Frozen Cassava'' which were to have been exported to Miami. They were packed into layers of crushed cassava then vacuum-sealed, according to police.

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HERE in Trinidad and Tobago, people have been taking "pot" shots at university professor and Independent Senator, Dr Kenneth (Ken) Ramchand, for advocating the decriminalisation of marijuana. The poor professor was subjected to considerable verbal abuse for admitting to substance abuse during his sojourn as a student enjoying the heights of the Mona Campus in Jamaica.

Some critics considered him a "naughty" professor for having used the drug. Others think he is a "nutty" professor for admitting, in the Senate, that he had used pot. There are others yet again who consider him a "potty" professor, not so much because of his association with the illegal substance, but because of his claims about its beneficial effects. They feel that his arguments on behalf of making the drug legal belong to the receptacle of that name.

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I DIDN'T watch The Human Body the first night it aired on TV6. But when I heard they were repeating the first episode due to public demand, I tuned in to see what had so fascinated viewers.

It wasn't the naked people, who are obviously chosen for their plainness.

But the series is extremely well-done and, what is more important, scientifically up-to-date.

In this land where superstition is so pervasive, and where pleasure in knowledge seems virtually non-existent, I was frankly surprised that a series like The Human Body should be aired at all. That some people were interested enough to call in to ask for a repeat was even more surprising.

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"Thank God It's Friday"

Professor Ken Ramchand deserves special recognition for being both caring and courageous enough to admit to having smoked marijuana as part of his recommendation to the Senate that possession of the drug for medicinal purposes be decriminalised; I just can't decide whether he should get the Trinity Cross or a big fat Bob Marley spliff.

Now, because I will shortly be taking the piss out of the rest of our Members of Parliament, I want to say three serious things unequivocally.

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PROF Kenneth Ramchand must have felt confident enough to bet that his submission, made during last week's debate on the Dangerous Drugs Bill, would evoke informed and meaningful discussion.

Instead, he discovered that Parliament is not necessarily a place in which you gamble on enlightenment. Consequently, making brave suggestions about decriminalising marijuana use is rendered risky.

Judging from remarks made by fellow Senators, Prof Ramchand may have done little more than fuel speculation that his most recent encounter with the herb was not while studying in Jamaica, but more likely in the Chamber's tea-room, just prior to Tuesday's sitting.

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) -- Drug traffickers are endangering democracy in small nations and leaving a trail of violence across the Americas, speakers told a major anti-drug conference Monday attended by Attorney General Janet Reno.

``If the international community does not work together against drug traffickers, this region's stability and the economic stability of the world are at grave risk,'' Trinidad's Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj said.

Maharaj noted U.N. estimates that show the illegal drug trade generating $500 billion a year -- more than the world's oil and gas industries combined.

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Like samizdat, the latest work of Winston "Explainer" Henry has been filtering through the streets of Port of Spain this weekend. He has yet to compose the music, nor has he made arrangements to record it. But for this calypso, it is the words that count. It is called "Hang Dem High" and you can tap your own beat.

Use the hangman's rope as bowtie; / Hang dem high, hang dem high / And no lawyer can't ask me why; / Hang dem high, hang dem high / Don't mind how they beg and cry; / Hang dem high, hang dem high / Who loves to kill must not fraid to die.

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Three convicted murderers were executed in Trinidad yesterday, moments after three senior British judges rejected a last-ditch appeal from two of the men.

Dole Chadee, Joey Ramiah and Ramkalawan Singh, the first murderers to be hanged in Trinidad for five years, were part of a drugs gang of nine found guilty of killing four members of the Baboolal family in Williamsville, Trinidad, in 1994. The other six gang members are expected to be hanged today and Monday.

British lawyers, acting free of charge, tried hard to save the men from the gallows.

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PORT OF SPAIN - Early yesterday warders in Frederick Street Prison, in the old quarter of Port of Spain, led a thickset inmate from his cell to the gallows outside, covered his head with a hood and placed the noose of the rope around his neck. At 6am the signal was given and the hangman pulled a wooden lever. A trapdoor snapped open and the 47-year-old man, Dole Chadee, swung.

Thus, after three years of legal wrangling that extended to the Privy Council in London and awoke old resentments across the Caribbean about Britain's still lingering judicial oversight in its former colonies, the government of Trinidad and Tobago had carried out the country's first hanging in five years.

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PORT OF SPAIN - A drug dealer and two accomplices were hanged for murder in Trinidad yesterday despite last-minute manoeuvres by lawyers to stop the first executions for five years.

Dole Chadee, 49, was hanged at 6am, in the first of nine scheduled executions. The accomplices went to the gallows later in the morning; three more are expected to be hanged today and a further three on Monday. More executions are likely to follow.

Britain's high commissioner joined a protest by European Union diplomats three weeks ago, telling Trinidad's Foreign Minister, Ralph Maraj, of their governments' opposition to the death penalty. Germany, which now holds the EU presidency, sent a further statement to the Trinidad government yesterday.

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD -- Trinidad hanged three convicted murderers Friday, ending a five-year hiatus in using the death penalty and possibly leading the way for dozens of other executions in the Caribbean.

Reputed drug lord Dole Chadee "gave no trouble and went to the gallows" at dawn, Prisons Commissioner Cipriani Baptiste said. Joey Ramiah and Ramkhalawan Singh followed; three more are to hang Saturday and three others on Monday.

Chadee and his "gang of eight" were convicted of killing Hamilton Baboolal and three family members in a 1994 drug dispute.

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Island nation intends to send message with 9 executions

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- As the sun rose Friday behind the Northern Ridge near here, and the 6 a.m. bell pealed at nearby St. Mary's College, the trap door snapped open beneath Dole Chadee's feet in the State Prison gallows room. Trinidad's most notorious murderer, drug lord and gang leader had been hanged.

Joey Ramiah was the next to die. And then, at 8:44 a.m., it was Ramkalawan Singh's turn.

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Last-Minute legal efforts to save the lives of nine convicted murderers on Trinidad and Tobago's death row appear unlikely to succeed. A series of hangings due to begin here tomorrow have divided the small twin-island nation in the southern Caribbean.

Lawyers for the nine men - members of a vicious drug gang - were reported yesterday to be preparing to contest the executions on constitutional grounds, hoping to win a temporary stay of execution while arguments are heard before Trinidad High Court.

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CARIBBEAN Island States Move to Shield Witnesses to Drug Trafficking

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--When authorities here put Clint Huggins in their witness-protection program in 1994, most Trinidadians figured he was as good as dead.

Huggins was the star witness against the most notorious organized-crime gang in Trinidad and Tobago, this strategic twin-island nation on a prime route for smuggling Colombian cocaine to the United States.

Witnesses against the gang routinely had been shot, poisoned or hacked to death in the past, and Huggins was going to testify that gang leader Dole Chadee had ordered a hit in which four people were killed.

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Albright to seek more help at meeting today

BLACK ROCK, Tobago -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called yesterday for more cooperation against drug traffickers and praised Trinidad and Tobago for leading the way.

In 1996, Trinidad and Tobago became the first Caribbean nation to sign an agreement allowing U.S. authorities to pursue suspected drug traffickers into its territorial airspace and waters.

Albright said she would discuss "the increased need to cooperate even further . . . on a scourge that knows no boundaries" at a meeting today with foreign ministers of the 15-member Caribbean Community.

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) -- A former Olympic track finalist was among five men charged Thursday with possession of nearly two tons of marijuana in Trinidad.

Mike Paul, 41, of Trinidad, was a 400-meter finalist in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He was arrested Wednesday at a warehouse in Arima, 18 miles east of Port-of-Spain, the capital.

Police found 3,630 pounds of marijuana hidden in the warehouse, where they arrested the five. The drugs were inside a massive crate behind a shipment of bottled water and juice, they said.

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