Court warns of consequences of drug taking

A young man was yesterday convicted of possession of ecstasy but cleared of trafficking.

David Psaila had been charged with illegal possession of psychotropic drugs and trafficking in March 1997 and preceding months after the police found six ecstasy tablets hidden in a sugar bowl.

The court, presided by Magistrate Noel Cuschieri, noted that the youth was sharing the flat with a number of other youths and that they had agreed to buy ecstasy to consume them at a party in Gozo.

The court noted that the police seized the drug after a person, who had been found in possession of half an ecstasy tablet, admitted he had bought the pill from the accused.

But the fact that the youths had bought the ecstasy tablets together meant they all had a share and, hence, Psaila could not be found guilty of trafficking.

The court, however, found him guilty of drug possession. Taking into consideration his clean criminal record, the court conditionally discharged him for two years.

In passing judgment, the court warned that those experimenting with drugs, whether as an adventure or under the false premise that drugs helped one achieve what one normally could not, could end up being sent to prison.

This apart the fact that the occasional consumption of ecstasy could cause brain damage and even death, the court added.

Inspector Sandro Gatt prosecuted.