…as Govt announces study on treating drug abuse as health issue
By Jarryl Bryan
Following successive years of prison disasters that culminated in the burning down of most of the Camp Street Prison, Government is now taking steps to address the underlying issues of prison overcrowding and unrest.
These include a review of the policies for persons who are placed before the courts for drug use.
Speaking during the presentation of the 2018 Budget, Finance Minister Winston Jordan related that a study would be done in 2018 to see how to treat drug abuse as a health issue within the criminal justice system.
“In 2018, we will be conducting a study on appropriate treatments for substance abuse as a health issue within the criminal justice system. This will inform our interaction with the Judiciary, as we assist in developing policies to reduce over-reliance on imprisonment. Probation services will also be strengthened to support this paradigm shift.”
The current system, he said, which incarcerates a person for the usage of harmful substances would be re-examined. “Our people need our compassion and our help so that they can be rehabilitated and given the support they need to live healthy and productive lives,” Jordan also related.
According to Guyana’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, once someone is summarily convicted of being in possession of any narcotic, they are liable to be imprisoned for at least three years and at most, five years. There is also a fine attached to such conviction.
Talk about decriminalising marijuana gained new life in 2015 after the public outcry over the sentencing of football coach Vibert Butts to three years’ imprisonment for having 46 grams of cannabis in his possession.
But there have been other cases, including a grandmother, Ramraji Deonarine, who was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $15,000 earlier this year, after she was found guilty of smuggling six grams of cannabis sativa into a prison.
Last March, a fire had raged through the Camp Street Prison and claimed the lives of 17 prisoners. Afterwards, a Commission of Inquiry, which cost the treasury some $13 million was ordered by President David Granger.
According to the report compiled by the Commissioners, the combination of overcrowded, uncomfortable and unhygienic confinement is ideal for epidemics, for gangs to prosper and to propagate discontent.
Moreover, the CoI found that reducing numbers in prisons to manageable levels is the single most important priority for establishing safe, humane and purposeful prisons. In the wake of another fire in July, which gutted the wooden section of the Camp Street prison, the need to reduce the prison population was further emphasised to the Government.
Alternative sentencing
Of recent, one of the recommendations coming out of a study that examined alternatives to incarceration for pre-trial detainees was for Guyana to establish a Sentencing Council. According to the final draft report, this could help to address the problems associated with the increase in the prison population.
The report, which was submitted to Government, was prepared by consultant Peter Pursglove under the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) of the Public Security Ministry. It stated that there was a lack of clear and coherent sentencing policies.
According to Pursglove in his final draft report, his recommendation is due to the importance and complexity of sentencing and the magnitude of the task to be accomplished by the various agencies involved in the criminal justice system.
The consultant emphasised that there was a need in Guyana for a permanent and specially constituted body to oversee the entire sentencing process, and ensure effective coordination of consistent sentencing policy.
In providing an insight as to what may constitute a Sentencing Council to be established here, the consultant said that it would include the provision of guidance to Judges And Magistrates; the gathering and provision of information and statistics for monitoring; planning and policy development; and engaging the community by informing and consulting the public.
