Two suspects convicted of soft-drug possession

Two men were on trial in Saba on Tuesday for possession of soft drugs. Both suspects had previ­ously been convicted for possession of drugs.

Both men were convicted by the judge in the Court of First Instance. One man was sentenced to 60 days in prison, with deduction of the time spent in pretrial detention. The other de­fendant received a condi­tional sentence of 10 days and a fine of US $300.

Pursuant to the Opium Law 1960 BES, possession of marijuana is punishable regardless of the purpose for which it is used.

“Drug use by young peo­ple in Saba is often accom­panied by unrest and other criminal offenses,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Wednes­day.
In consultation between the Island Governor, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the police, agree­ments have been made to reduce drug usage and address possession of narcotics. As a result, the Prosecutor’s Office is referring to Saba drug cases with relatively small amounts to the judge, the Prosecutor’s Office stated.

The Daily Herald.

Note of the Editor:

Note that, in contrast to the European Netherlands, there zero tolerance rules are applied to the BES islands.