Drug peddlers get nine months in jail

 By JUNIOR UKAHA

MARIJUANA could make you  mentally ill as you grow old, a magistrate said yesterday when sentencing two men to nine months each in prison for possessing the illicit drug.

Lae District Court magistrate Nasaling Bingtau told Uru Maima and Philemon Kongi that they must stop using marijuana and change their habits when they completed their jail terms.

Maima from Gunagi in Sinasina, Chimbu, was caught by police at the Nawae Block in Lae, Morobe, carrying a black bag that contained the drug. Police apprehended him on May 25 during a special operation to recapture jail escapees.

Kongi from Banz in Jiwaka was caught and beaten by villagers at Nadzab outside Lae after he was seen with the drug near the local market on May 29.

Kongi told the court that his money and other belongings were stolen by the villagers when they beat him.

But Bingtau told him that what the villagers did showed that they were frustrated with drug dealers like him who were creating problems for the community.

Both men pleaded guilty and were each slapped with nine months jail terms with hard labour.