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Marijuana or cannabis has been around in this country for a very long time.
Regarded as a recreational drug in many places around the world, in other countries, it is regarded as medicinal.
In this country, our laws classify this drug as highly dangerous and it is illegal to produce, consume and sell for money.
While the state resources are stressed to limits dealing with cannabis, we are now told there are many other illicit drugs that are going around in the community, with many young people taking them.
Given that we have a very high population of disillusioned and unemployed young people, not doing anything to add value to their lives, the chances that these people are already getting into the more potent drugs is very high.
Police Commissioner, David Manning admits that the streets of Port Moresby and Lae are flooded with these dangerous drugs and the problem will get worse if we do not take steps quickly to close the route where these illicit products are coming through.
Manning tells us that these drugs are not produced locally so we do not have to worry about putting anyone out of business or work. These drugs are being smuggled into the country by international crime syndicates who are moving the drugs into Australia.
PNG is now the drug highway, for these crime syndicates. The recent arrests of two Portuguese nationals at the Jacksons airport with cocaine, worth millions of kina, highlights what we have become and the need to urgently do something about this.
Australia and the United States have bilaterials agreemnts with us. Under these agreements, security is one. We are sure that in those agreements we have signed, there are provisions for both countries to work with PNG to crack down on transnational crimes.
The agreements also provide for Australia and USA to help us build the capacity of our police and defence forces to attend to the transnational crimes and we should not wait around for people to start falling down dead before we act.
Drugs and alcohol combined are already taking their toll on lives in this country. Drug addiction is a big problem among our young people. Reports out of the highlands say much of the lawlessness found in the region is fuelled by alcohol and drugs.
With the proliferation of more potent and dangerous drugs, the future looks very frightening for this country.
These are Illicit and psychoactive drugs. When they become easily accessible in our cities and towns, no one is safe. At the same time, we expect the social and economic problems to get worse.
While we applaud the brave efforts by the law and justice sector to end the drug and alcohol related issues in the country, the alarming rise in transnational crimes calls for a whole new approach to fighting crime.
We expect our police to work in partnership with development partners and with Australia and the USA to put together a plan that sets out a clear pathway to crack down on transnational crimes, to close this drug highway and remove the drugs off the streets in this country.
It is in the interest of Australia to help us and that is exactly what they are doing. We must grab the opportunity they are creating for us and proactively partner with them to achieve results.
For how can we possibly hope to develop into a peaceful and prosperous nation, when we allow our young men and women, to continue to face the hopelessness in their lives and find escape in drugs?
This is a serious development concern.
“}]] Marijuana or cannabis has been around in this country for a very long time. Read More
