Drug penalties too lenient: Tau

National

A government youth worker has called for tougher penalties for drug offences.
Senior education officer of the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) Lawrence Tau says the drug laws in Papua New Guinea were too lenient.
“We need to raise the warning flag. Drug laws will have to be amended because we have gone over time,” he said.
Tau said many youths were in prisons because of drug and alcohol-related offences.
“We see many young people who come to prisons, they come and stay for six months and two years and go out back to the communities,” Tau said. “They go back and they still continue doing drugs.
“The harsher penalties would be a road map of our young people to see that if they involve in  drug and alcohol crime then they will end up in jail.”