Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley has thrown his support behind a piece of legislation designed to save young drug users from a criminal record.
The Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, will see fewer harsh penalties for people found with small quantities of marijuana, and Atherley welcomed the fact that such drug users would not be criminalised when caught.
The legislation provides for the imposition of a fine rather than incarceration.
Atherley said one of the major “defects and inefficiencies” in the justice system had to do with the way in which the system “criminalises many of our young people”.
“The system itself turns out prospective criminals, further pushing them towards undesirable activities which end up at tremendous cost to the Government and people of Barbados,” he said. (GC)
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