- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 10/Jul 03:13

Al-Rawi: Laws to curb weed will target African youth

OPPOSITION Senator Faris Al-Rawi claimed the government's proposals to set an eligibility age of 25 years old to use marijuana will in reality end up targeting African youths, addressing a briefing at the office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain on July 9. He called for details of the proposals outlined by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a recent Monday Night Report meeting at Penal on July 7 where she also proposed gambling and alcohol consumption be restricted to individuals of at least 21 years old. "You have to manage the consequence of the law, and that is what we are asking for." He reckoned such an offence involving an age limit must be a serious offence. "Who does it target? In the realities of Trinidad and Tobago, I reminded you of the data for marijuana. "Ninety seven per cent of the target audience is going to be young Afro-Trinidadian males. "What is going to happen? You are going to lock them up?" Noting a 65-year low in road fatalities after the demerit point system drafted by himself and Arouca/Lopinot MP Marvin Gonzales as an attorney in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Al-Rawi said one must carefully consider exactly what measures would work in TT. Seemingly referring to new laws to restrict marijuana use, he said, "If you are going to add that on to the Cepep, what is the demographics of the people who are in Cepep? "Who really get bounce? Where are your (media) questions on that? What do the demographics look like? "You send home 15,000 Cepep and Forestry workers. What do we look like in Cepep positions?" He went on to talk about a proposed law to ban youngsters from gambling and to introduce stand-your-ground principles of self defence for home-owners. Al-Rawi mulled those to say TT needed to have a socio-economic discussion about race. Earlier, Al-Rawi mulled the personal backgrounds of the 20,000 workers fired from Cepep and the reforestation programme, asking listeners to "catch the dots being connected... "Go and have a look at the bucket that is comprised of our good brothers and sisters there. What are the demographics? What do they look like? The socio-economic and other demographics, what do look like? "You will find that an implementation of the marijuana law is going to have a serious consequence that we need to factor in how we prescribe law, to save ourselves." He accused the government of no regard for equity and balance. He read the names of the new Udecott board – "Hassanali, Dookeran, Sookoo, Hansraj, Ramraj, and Ramlal." Al-Rawi said, "Does that sound reflective of Trinidad and Tobago? "I could ask that question, because I come from similar background and orientation. I am worried, folks, genuinely, about where we are headed to." Newsday asked his view on Persad-Bissessar's proposal for a new office of chancellor, to administer the infrastructure used by the judiciary, leaving the chief justice to focus on legalities. Asked whether or not he expected the post to be a threat to the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary, he replied, "This is why we are calling for information, because we can't tell you what it is (as) we don't know." He said at the moment the law courts were run by executive court administrators and according to various divisions created by him as former attorney general. He said he was calling for details of the new proposals so as to understand if there would be an issue of the separation of powers and how that would be handled. "I respectfully believe that anything that would advance the administration of justice is worthy of support, but we are calling for details on it." The post Al-Rawi: Laws to curb weed will target African youth appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.