Police on ganja debate: ‘It’s still a crime’

Raging debate on the legalisation of marijuana won’t deter the Royal Barbados Police Force’s commitment to enforcing the drug laws, RBPF spokesman Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss has declared.

Inspector Inniss, the force’s Public Relations Officer, made the declaration as 1,133 pounds of cannabis went up in smoke at the Grantley Adams International Airport’s incinerator on Friday morning as part of the official destruction of evidence seized in past cases.

Police destroyed 1,133 pounds of cannabis.

He told reporters: “We will continue to fight as a police force and that is part of our job to eradicate the process.

“Some people have been commenting about the legalisation [of marijuana] at this stage.

“Having or growing marijuana is still illegal in Barbados and the Royal Barbados Police Force has a responsibility to do the necessaries.

“It is still a crime and persons will still be charged for the harvesting or transhipment of drugs wherever it is discovered.”

The police spokesman revealed Friday’s exercise was the fourth such burning this year. He added that 1,495 of the plants had been seized by the RBPF’s Northern Division.

When asked how much of a role the police was playing in the discussion on the legalisation of marijuana, Acting Inspector Inniss said: “We do not do policy or create the law, we enforce the law.

“I am sure if the senior command team… is asked to give their views, they will do so in a formal way.”