Any changes to the laws regulating the use of cannabis will only be made "in a measured fashion with careful consideration of the Bermudian context", National Security Minister Michael Dunkley has said. Mr Dunkley spoke after a report by the Cannabis Reform Collaborative (CRC) was presented to Parliamentarians in the House of Assembly this morning. "It must be noted that cannabis policy in Bermuda is far reaching, affecting our social, health and economic climate and therefore requires a holistic approach to reform," the Minister said. [continues 246 words]
Former New Jersey State Police undercover Narcotics officer Jack Cole a co-founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is on the Island this week to speak with the public and Government officials about the benefits of legalising all drugs and ending the "war on drugs". Former New Jersey State Police undercover Narcotics officer Jack Cole a co-founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is on the Island this week to speak with the public and Government officials about the benefits of legalising all drugs and ending the "war on drugs". [continues 695 words]
The young are the restless. It is a line for which I cannot take credit. It was a headline that appeared recently in The New York Times. It caught my eye as did the subject matter: how views are changing on the decriminalisation and use of marijuana. A writer by the name of Charles M Blow (yes, real name) was commenting on an April 2013 poll that for the first time showed that more Americans support legalising marijuana than oppose it. [continues 643 words]
People who drive carelessly should be tested for drugs as well as alcohol, Independent Senator Joan Dillas-Wright believes. She made the assertion during the debate on the Road Traffic Amendment Act 2012 which passed in the Upper House this week. "This whole issue of drugs is a major issue and I know that in the US certainly they can do saliva tests by the roadside because I'm sure we see people who may not be under the influence of alcohol but they may be under the influence of illegal drugs," said Sen Dillas-Wright. [continues 687 words]
A "medical marijuana" argument failed to stand up in court for a Devonshire man accused of cannabis possession. Nicholas Pearman, 31, of Lookout Lane, told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that he had been smoking "medically strong" cannabis to treat the symptoms of the digestive complaint Crohn's Disease. Magistrates' Court heard that Pearman was arrested on August 13, 2011, by police conducting a stop and search at the junction of Palmetto Road and Bishop Spencer Road. Crown counsel Susan Mulligan said the officers stopped a car at 9.35pm, and searched Pearman, the passenger, after noticing a strong smell of cannabis smoke. [continues 130 words]
A 59-year-old tourist who brought more than an ounce of cannabis into Bermuda was jailed for a month despite arguing that she needed the drug for medical reasons. Edith Lord Wolff, of California, admitted in Magistrates' Court to importing 35.6 grams of cannabis on a May 17 flight from New York. The drugs were stored inside her luggage. Crown counsel Tawana Tannock said a K9 unit alerted Customs officers to the drugs at LF Wade International Airport. The officers found bags containing hand-rolled cigarettes and plant matter in Wolff's luggage. Wolff identified the material inside the bags as marijuana. [continues 193 words]
Former Narcotics head Larry Smith says Bermuda's burgeoning drug crime can be blamed on a switch to soft Policing. And he said any move to legalize drugs to stem Bermuda's crime wave would merely bankroll rich dealers while turning more users into virtual zombies. Violent crime rose 44.5 percent from 2000 to 2007 and Mr. Smith agreed that drugs were behind that surge. But Mr. Smith, who headed the Police Narcotics squad from 1999 to 2006, blamed the rise on a change in Policing tactics, away from enforcement. [continues 485 words]
Aspiring athletes are not immune to the threat of obesity, drugs, crime and other anti-social behaviour which rank among the biggest challenges they will face in their development, according to author, coach and lecturer Fred Engh. Engh will be the keynote speaker during the Ministry of Youth and Sports' Annual Conference to be held today at Elbow Beach Hotel (9 a.m.) and the message he brings is a universal, if not, sobering one. The 70-year old Florida resident is president and founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, a non-profit organisation whose remit is to create a "positive and safe environment" for all to enjoy in youth sports in the US. [continues 647 words]
Opposition MP Pat Gordon-Pamplin said she will not resign nor did she know anything about her husband's arrest in connection with $15 million worth of drugs destined for Bermuda. Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said, in fact, she only found out about Dennis Pamplin's arrest through the news media on Thursday evening. Mr. Pamplin was arrested along with a second man, Brian Henry on Tuesday evening by the New Jersey Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). According to a press release on the DEA website the two men were arrested after a police dog sniffed out 700 pounds of marijuana hidden inside concrete pillars at a warehouse in Orange, New Jersey. [continues 316 words]
More than 100 middle school students will celebrate being drug free this week. The tenth annual PRIDE Conference kicks off tomorrow and will see students participate in workshops, outdoor games and other activities which promote a drug-free lifestyle. This year Bermudian Rev. Jahkimmo Smith will speak to the students. Rev. Smith attended Northlands Secondary School before getting a Bachelor in Arts from the Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2004 he obtained a Masters of Divinity degree in Biblical Studies with honours from the Interdenominational Theological Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. [continues 84 words]
Renewed Action Has Been Promised to Shutdown Bermuda's Crack Houses. New Attorney General Philip Perinchief said that previous warnings about clampdowns have been slowed by legal problems. "We had to search through some of the existing laws to see if we could utilise those," he said, adding that new laws or amendments would now be needed to tackle the issue. Asked about the scale of the problem, the Attorney General said: "We think the problem is more extensive than we thought." [continues 139 words]
BENEDICT Associates Ltd. has been helping Bermuda's employees stay on an even keel and remain productive for more than two decades. From relationship problems to drugs, from alcoholism to difficulties with the boss, the company has helped employers and their staff overcome multiple obstacles. But Benedict's founder and managing director Vaughn Mosher says he has never seen workers face more stress than they do these days. And he puts some of that extra strain down to the gadgets that were designed to make life easier. [continues 1163 words]
Many of Bermuda's homes are taken care of by drug money, former drugs kingpin claims. "Do you know how much drug money's taking care of families in Bermuda?" asked Tom, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They have these young guys who aren't doing drugs -- just watching out for the men and getting paid. "I'm talking bout little guys 13-year-olds down Middletown (North Hamilton), guys up Warwick, down Backbush (Ord Road), they're lookouts, that's how they start. Next thing you look they're holding the package. [continues 205 words]
National Drug Control Minister Wayne Perinchief has been defeated in his bid to downgrade cannabis offences. He had hoped to win Cabinet approval for a law change which would see small-scale first-time cannabis users dealt with outside the courts and helped to rehabilitate. However, he told The Royal Gazette: "It's become a controversial issue because some people correlate reclassification with decriminalisation. That's not true. "It was always to be an arrestable offence, however, instead of getting a punitive sentence you will get a rehabilitative sentence for certain classes of drugs." [continues 434 words]
New prisons boss Bryan Payling is to crack down on inmates who refuse to take rehabilitation programmes by withholding privileges. The 'get tough' programme will be phased in with visits and access to cash and recreation likely to be restricted for prisoners who refuse to toe the line. The Acting Commissioner of Corrections, who took over at the beginning of this month, said the majority of privileges are now available to all prisoners from day one -- regardless of whether they show willingness to reform. [continues 713 words]
A heroin addict and former drug dealer has criticised the Turning Point substance abuse programme, claiming Bermuda's drug and criminal problems would disappear if drug addicts could get the help they needed immediately. Tom - not his real name - has snorted heroin since he was 17 years old. He began smoking cannabis at 11. He said he has participated in the Turning Point programme about ten or 12 times and admits to multiple relapses. He has been off the programme for three months. However, he says if drug addicts get help immediately, it would solve so many of Bermuda's problems. "If you want to stop the crime in Bermuda, give the addicts some help. Trust me, that will work. "They always talk about like how much the drugs are causing the crimes and its true but what are they doing about it," he asked. "They got a methadone programme down there [and] they got a hundred people on it but what percentage is that, 000.001?" He continued: "Drugs affect everybody in Bermuda - a cousin, an auntie, an uncle, a brother, a sister, a daddy, a mama. "You have a hundred people on the programme and they tell you down Turning Point, 'yo we can't help you because Government only allows us to have so many'." Tom claims Bermuda has the most drugs in the world and said the Progressive Labour Party Government is not helping drug addicts. Tom said he knows of politicians who have addicts in their families, are former addicts or criminals. "Why don't these guys help? PLP ain't getting my vote no more." Tom also disagreed with Camp Spirit closing for the summer months so people can camp on the island. "It's summer time, so I ain't going to get high? People get high 24/7, 365." Tom said he had been clean for 16 months but had a relapse when he found out his daughter was sick. "The only way I knew how to deal with it was to get high." He was also critical of the methadone programme, which he said simply turned heroin addicts into lifetime methadone addicts. He explained detox programmes in various places throughout New York is a 21-day process an addict participates in. After the programme recovering addicts go to a transition house and are assigned a counsellor. "They become like my underpants and t-shirt - everywhere I go they go and that's for like three months." He said an addict can go to Queens, New Rochelle, the Bronx or Brooklyn and pay $5 a day and receive the necessary treatment. Tom said the programme in Bermuda is only seven days, which is not a long enough recovery time. "Seven days is not enough. [continues 996 words]
Policing In Bermuda "I have been shot at, I have been blown up, I have been involved in an explosion where five officers were killed." So says Bryan Bell, Bermuda's new Assistant Commissioner of Police, who cut his teeth in Northern Ireland during 'The troubles' which claimed well over 3,000 lives. But those fearing Bermuda has recruited a hard-line British cop bent on brute force Policing need not fear. Mr. Bell's approach is about working with the community rather than being at its throat. [continues 1454 words]
A MORE reliable form of drug testing which analyses hair instead of urine or saliva was introduced to Bermuda at a public forum yesterday. The Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) partnered with the Psychemedics Corporation, inventors of the patented method, to establish the practice here. Its presence was welcomed by Health Minister Patrice Minors at a workshop at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. The Minister lauded its potential as a tool in improving the health of the community. "Drugs are an increasing menace in our homes. They can devastate our families and tear at the fabric of all that we hold dear to us. As the Minister of Health & Family Services I am cognisant of the impact that substance abuse has on our client base and I salute any entity willing to stand up and be counted in the fight to combat drug use in Bermuda." [continues 563 words]
Minister of National Drug control Wayne Perinchief has urged the 75 percent of employers on the Island who do not have 'drug-free workplace' policies to put measures in place. Mr. Perinchief said a survey of 500 companies carried out by his Ministry showed that "a reasonable number" do have policies embracing drug testing at work. However, he urged those who are not yet on board to seek advice from the National Drugs Commission on developing a package to combat the scourge of drugs. [continues 487 words]
A Supreme Court judge yesterday launched a scathing attack on what she termed Bermuda's inability to successfully treat and rehabilitate drug-addicted criminals. Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons suggested offenders' human rights were being breached because of the inadequacy of the help programmes available to them. She spoke out as she separately sentenced two drug addicts for dishonest behaviour at Supreme Court. "I'm not suggesting that this doesn't happen elsewhere in the world but I think in Bermuda in 2006 we could do better," she said. [continues 890 words]
