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Kids consuming ganja cookies and brownies

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Cookies and brownies baked with marijuana seem to be the latest illegal drug trend in T&T and remained the most popular when compared to other illicit narcotics. So said ASP Vernly Gift, of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB), at yesterday’s weekly police press briefing at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain.

He said the notable increase in people consuming marijuana baked in cookies and brownies did not exempt them from the traditional effects of the drug, adding that could be more dangerous as the user could ingest more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) than by smoking.

THC is the active chemical in cannabis and is considered one of the oldest hallucinogenic drugs. “Because the THC levels in marijuana are difficult to measure, so too are the amounts in these food products,” Gift added. Asked what has led to people using marijuana-laced snacks Gift said that was just a new form of camouflaging the drug. “Marijuana comes in different forms and cookies and brownies are other methods used.

It is a serious matter because though T&T is a trans-shipment point for marijuana to a lesser extent as opposed to cocaine T&T has a high consumer market for marijuana,” Gift said. He said the OCNFB has also seen the current use of another illegal drug in T&T, commonly referred as “mushrooms” also known as “magic mushrooms” and “shrooms.” Those mushrooms, Gift said, were wild plants which were dried and then smoked or orally ingested.

They contain “psilocybin” which has hallucinogenic effects. “Users have been noted to possess difficulty in discerning fantasy from reality. The dealers traditionally target parties where young people congregate,” Gift said, adding there was a retail price of $300 an ounce, about 30 grammes. Saying illegal drugs were normally accompanied by illegal arms and ammunition, Gift added the proliferation of such weapons continued to be a challenge for the Police Service.

“Firearms continue to be a weapon of choice among those who carry out violent acts again people,” Gift said. He said for the period January 2016 to date there were 269 murders of which 78 per cent or 209 were committed with the use of illegal guns

For the same period in 2015, there were 240 reported murders, of which 197 or 82 per cent were gun related. On whether anyone has been identified as being responsible for bringing large shipments of illegal drugs and ammunition into the country, Gift said, the police continued to carry out investigations and gather intelligence.

“Firearms usually accompany narcotics but based on our intelligence over the years we have seen that there are persons who have engaged in the niche market... they separate themselves from the drug trafficking and treat only with firearms,” Gift said. On specific ports used to bring the illegal narcotics and firearms into the country, Gift said that was difficult to identify as T&T’s coastline was “very lengthy” rendering it easy for such items to enter.

Drug trend not surprising—Drug Council When contacted an official of the National Drug Council (NDC) said he was not surprised by the latest drug trend as the primary drug used in T&T was marijuana, with cocaine, being the second most frequently used drug.

“In fact, this is not the first time we have heard of people consuming cookies laced with marijuana and it seems to be growing in popularity among the teenaged and young adult age group,” the official added. Rehabilitation providers, he added, were particularly concerned by the increasingly younger age of initiation into drug usage from as early as 13.

Ganja cookies not new Secretary of the Psychiatric Association, Dr Varma Deyalsingh, said marijuana-laced cookies and brownies have been around as far back as eight years ago but it was used primarily among the adult population. He said within recent times, however, this was being used by teenagers and even children as young as 12. “It looks like a normal cookie or brownie and what we are finding is that a few of these children are carrying it into the schools to introduce it to their friends,” Deyalsingh said.

He described the Caura drug rehabilitation centre as an excellent facility but said that catered only for adults. “As more and more young teenagers are getting hooked on this drug we need facilities specifically catered for them,” Deyalsingh said. He said some of the long-term effects of marijuana use include:

• Reduced resistance to common illnesses, such as colds.
• Suppression of the immune system.
• Growth disorders.
• Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body.
• Reduction of male sex hormones.
• Rapid destruction of lung fibres and lesions (injuries) to the brain could be permanent.
• Reduced sexual capacity.
• Reduced ability to learn and retain information.
• Personality and mood changes.
• Inability to understand things clearly.

SEIZURES

Police Service has seized 842.62 kilogrammes of marijuana and 195.46 kilogrammes of cocaine for this year thus far resulting in a street value of $11,122,584 for marijuana and $78, 184,000 for the cocaine seized.

For the said period, 1,012.9 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized at a street value of $405,164,000. So far, for 2016, the Police Service seized 461 guns of which 113 were revolvers, 217 pistols, 56 shotguns, 39 homemade shotguns, 17 rifles, eight sub-machine guns, eight other forms of firearms, such as trap guns and three air rifles.

Between the period 2011 to 2015, 2,586 guns were seized which included 643 revolvers, 1,169 pistols, 270 shotguns, 230 homemade shotguns, 102 rifles, 66 sub-machine guns, 22 air rifles and 80 other types.
 


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