The maximum sentence for a first offence involving ganja is seven years.
Decrying the impact of ganja on Cayman society, Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale wondered this week whether that maximum is too low.
In a case involving the importation of 295 pounds of ganja, she imposed sentences of five years for Kevin Mark Ebanks and Henry Sydney Ebanks, two years for Horace Davis.
‘Take it on appeal and I’d be delighted to have some guidelines,’ she told Defence Attorney John Furniss this week.
All three defendants had pleaded guilty to bringing the ganja to Cayman from Jamaica on 3 August (Caymanian Compass, 10 August).
Davis, a Jamaican national, had been hired to navigate the vessel. But he had no business assisting someone to bring ganja, the magistrate told him.
Henry Ebanks had a previous conviction for being involved in the importation of ganja, for which he received two and a half years imprisonment.
The magistrate accepted that he would have assisted the Crown if the matter had gone to trial. But he could never expect two and a half years again. With the maximum sentence for a second offence at 15 years, she gave him five.
Kevin Ebanks’ previous conviction was for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. The magistrate referred to the ganja charge as his ‘second for possession with intent.’
Defence Attorney John Furniss said no. He pointed out that the Misuse of Drugs Law distinguishes between hard and soft drugs.
The magistrate said she did not think the law intended to reward a person for dealing with a different drug on a second occasion.
That was when she invited Mr. Furniss to appeal to the Grand Court. Mr. Furniss agreed that a ruling from there would be helpful to everyone.
‘We are awash in ganja. The amount of cases I’ve seen indicates a huge amount coming in regularly,’ the magistrate commented earlier.
Referring to Henry Ebanks’ previous two and a half year sentence, she observed that he had not felt he shouldn’t do it again.
There is a need for deterrent sentences, she declared. ‘I recognise that limit of seven years stays me. Perhaps it is time for that maximum to be revised.’
Mr. Furniss cited other cases in which larger amounts of ganja attracted lesser sentences.
The magistrate said she could not do a strict mathematical exercise. The seriousness of the offence was the importation and the court had to sentence to stop importation.
The cost to these islands is too high, she indicated. Young people are being robbed of their motivation to study and succeed and she blamed ganja. Too many young people had the attitude that they would smoke their weed and wait for things to come to them. But that had to stop.
There should not be any tolerance for ganja in Cayman, she continued. Other places may have a population large enough to write off a percentage of their population. But Cayman is too small and cannot afford to do that.
The number of cases in court shows how much ganja is available. In the juvenile court, there are 13- and 14-year-olds struggling with addiction.
These problems justify deterrent sentences, the magistrate concluded.
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