Magistrate warns over marijuana

THE law against marijuana is serious and that is why there is no court fines for offenders but only custodial sentence, a magistrate has warned.
Lae District Court Magistrate Isaac Tjipet issued the warning yesterday after sentencing a 50-year-old woman to six months imprisonment for being in possession of marijuana.
Magistrate Tjipet told defendant Pamas Leo, from Usino-Bundi, Madang, who pleaded guilty to being in possession of nine K1 rolls of marijuana that she was sentenced because of the seriousness of the offence and the impact the drug could have on people.
He said it seemed that there was an increase in drug activities in Lae and every week, the court had to deal with drug offenders.
Police prosecutor Sgt Vincent Suakai asked the court for the maximum sentence which was a jail term not exceeding two years.
However, the court, in considering the mitigating factors that Leo was a first time offender, had expressed remorse and entered an early guilty plea, saving the court time and resources ordered that she be sentenced with hard labour.
He further ordered that the drugs (court exhibits) forfeited to the State to be destroyed.