‘Kush’ packed inside toy parcels detected, one arrested

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The police special task force caught nearly Rs. 20 million worth narcotic ‘kush’ which was perfectly stuffed and packed inside toy boxes.

Kush – a cheap new illegal drug, is ravaging communities in Sierra Leone. Medical staff in the capital Freetown say that 90% of the male admissions to the central psychiatric ward are due to Kush use.

With Kush use spreading rapidly, with ever-younger users being exposed to it, Africa Eye reporter, Tyson Conteh, investigates the drug and asks whether Sierra Leone can stop the march of this dangerously addictive high.

In short, Kush is a specific type of cannabis. It’s popular for recreational users because it’s sometimes thought to be stronger than other strains of cannabis.

Kush strains of cannabis are descended from plants from the Kush region, which is on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Side effects includes:

• Blood pressure changes (blood pressure may go both up and down and may change suddenly at different phases of the drug’s active period)
• Coughing
• Long-term use may increase the risk of asthma and COPD
• Short-term impairment of memory and cognition (possible long-term impairment being explored)
• Nausea
• Vomiting

According to the police, there were 1 kg and 367 grams of ‘kush’ inside the parcel.

The raid was done by the Special Raid Unit of the Special Task Force Headquarters Camp (Colombo region) with assistance of customers and narcotics bureau officers.

The Police Special Task Force has arrested a person, a 44-year-old resident of Colombo, who came to claim a parcel sent via Air Mail from the United States after Police found it.

The accused was handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigations by the STF.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is responsible for any cannabis-related arrest in India. However, when the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Billwas passed in 1986, it made the procurement, sale, and consumption of all drugs completely illegal.

Punishment:

• If the cops catch you with a ‘small quantity’ of 100gms of Charas/hashish or 1kg of Ganja, you could be sentenced to up to 6 months in jail with a fine of up to Rs 10,000.

• If you are caught with ‘commercial quantities’ of 1 kg for Charas/hashish or 20 kgs of Ganja, you could be sentenced up to 20 years in jail with a fine of up to 2 lakhs!

• If you’re in the possession of ‘quantities more than a small quantity but less than commercial quantities’, you could face imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh.

• If you haven’t even consumed marijuana or been in possession of it but let someone come over to your place to smoke some, you could still be in trouble. Section 25 states that if a person knowingly allows one’s premises to be used for committing any offences under the NDPS Act, they could face similar punishment as section 20G
• – Section 28 deals with attempts, abetment and criminal conspiracy with regard to marijuana.

BY: AYUSHI BHUSHAN, 1^ST YEAR, BA.LLB(INTEGRATED), BANASTHALI UNIVERSITY, RAJASTHAN

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