By FARRAH JOHNSON
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
TWO men charged with marijuana possession were yesterday conditionally discharged after they agreed to attend drug counselling classes.
A woman who was charged with the same offence was also placed on six months’ probation after her attorney told the magistrate she was not a habitual smoker.
Frito Dorsaint, 22, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was found with one gram of Indian hemp on June 16.
Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie told the court when officers searched Dorsaint that evening, they found a small Ziploc bag in his left pants pocket. Sgt McKenzie said the bag contained a grassy-like substance officers suspected to be marijuana. Dorsaint was subsequently arrested. During an interview with police at a nearby station, he admitted to the offence.
During the hearing, Dorsaint was represented by attorney Jomo Campbell. He told the magistrate that his client had a drug habit for four or five years and asked him to give Dorsaint an opportunity to “beat the bad habit and keep his record intact.”
He pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged on the agreement that he would attend drug counselling classes at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) for 12 months. If he fails to do so, he will spend three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
Demerco Smith, 22, was also charged after he was found with a quantity of Indian hemp on June 12. During the hearing, he pleaded guilty and told the magistrate that he had a “drug problem.” He also said he had been smoking because he found out his mother had been “diagnosed with cancer the other day.” In response, Magistrate Forbes told Smith he would give him the opportunity to address his addiction. He was subsequently ordered to attend drug counselling classes at SRC for 12 months. Still, Magistrate Forbes warned him that if he didn’t, he would be convicted of the offence and spend three months at BDCS.
Wiltisha Dean, 26, was charged after she was found with three grams of Indian hemp on June 12. She pleaded guilty and was placed on six months’ probation. However, if she fails to be of good behaviour during that time, she will spend three months in prison. During the hearing, Dean’s attorney told the magistrate that his client started smoking in February and only smoked “once or twice a month.” He also claimed that the marijuana the officer’s found in her bag had been there for weeks and insisted that his client only smoked on a “handful of occasions.”
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