Police want help in drugs war

CENTRAL police commander Laimo Asi has urged communities in Central to report those who cultivate marijuana in their villages.
He told The National following yesterday’s arrest of a 21-year-old Milne Bay youth who was found with 11 marijuana plants at Manabo village, Cloudy Bay.
“In the past, we only had issues of people smuggling in marijuana, but today people are actually cultivating this harmful drug in our villages,” Asi said.
He said they arrested the youth following a report they received from an informant.
“The boy was charged with cultivating marijuana, under the Drug Act, and if his case is prosecuted successfully, the penalty will be five years imprisonment,” he said.
Asi said the drug issue in the province had gone from bad to worse.
“I want to encourage every community leader to report any suspects and I will not hesitate to send my officers to do arrests,” he said.
Asi said he wanted to work with the community to address the situation.
“This drug is very harmful and can destroy people’s health as well as have an impact on others like the safety of women and girls in the community.”
Asi said there should be tougher laws imposed on the cultivating, use and anything to do with marijuana or drugs.
“If we would have tougher laws like life imprisonment or the death penalty, maybe these would deter people from getting into contact with marijuana and using it,” he said.