STATE KEEPS TO HIGH VALUE ASSESSMENT OF DRUGS WHEN PRICE ON STREETS IS LOWER

The "tough" new crime Bill may bring difficulties for the State, namely how
does it determine the value of illegal drugs? Jim Cusack, Security
Correspondent reports

By the end of next year, this State could have antidrugs and
antiorganised crime laws which will be the envy of antidrugs campaigners
and lawmakers across Europe.

The new Bill, announced by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue,
yesterday, has the potential to impose mandatory minimum 10year sentences
for possession of what some abusers would regard as fairly ordinary
quantities of drugs. There will also be an automatic process for the
seizure of a convicted person's property.

The threshold level for a person facing the mandatory 10year minimum
sentence is a major toughening of the State's position on drugs. One senior
Government official commented: "The public want tough and they are getting
tough."

A brief examination of some of the recent sentencing in drugs cases reveals
exactly what the official meant. Only nine days ago, a Dublin criminal,
Russell Warren, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for possessing
£2.7 million worth of cannabis.

In July 1995, an English drug smuggler caught with 700 kg of cannabis with
an estimated street value of £7 million, one of the largest single hauls of
drugs in the State, received a sevenyear sentence. The judge ruled that 3
1/2 years be suspended. With remission for good behaviour, this man should
be free by next summer. Three years ago, a musician caught with £16,000
worth of cannabis was fined £8,000 but not jailed. This contrasts with the
proposals put forward by Mr

O'Donoghue yesterday where somebody caught with as little as 1 kg of
cannabis could, theoretically, face a minimum sentence of 10 years.

In the past month alone, gardai have arrested around 50 people in
connection with a run of drugs seizures, the least of which was valued at
£100,000 and the biggest at £8 million.

The State may also have difficulty in determining exactly how to value
drugs. Estimates can vary dramatically. In July 1992, Customs officers
seized 55 kg of the chemical, benzyl methyl ketone (BMK), which is used in
the manufacture of amphetamines. The initial estimate of the haul was put
at £4 million. However, a few days later the chemical was being valued at
around £7,000.

Street drug prices in Dublin fluctuate but have generally fallen over the
past decade or so. The variations in the drugs values depend on scarcity
and levels of purity or strength. There is no norm.

Heroin is sold mainly in £10 "bags" and a quarter of a gramme is said to be
selling for around £40. The punishment available under the new Bill for
heroin possession would therefore be applicable for somebody in possession
of around 62.5 grammes (just over two ounces) or over.

Cocaine, once abused only by the rich because of its high cost, is said to
have been widely available at rockbottom prices in Dublin over the past
year. According to some sources, it is available at £15 a gramme. In the
case of cocaine possession the 10year minimum sentence would currently
apply to somebody caught with over 666 grammes (less than 2 lb). Gardai
maintain a consistent valuation for cannabis at £10 a gramme based on the
notion of enough of the drug for about four cigarettes, the ubiquitous "£10
deal" which is sold widely in pubs and clubs and on street corners, mostly
to young people. This valuation puts a £10,000 price on 1 kg of cannabis.
However, it is known that 1 kg of the drug can be bought at wholesale price
for between £2,000 and £2,500.

Ecstasy, the "dance" drug which was selling at £25 a tablet when it first
appeared in Ireland less than a decade ago is now selling at £10 or £12.

The 10year minimum sentence for ecstasy possession would come into play
for anybody caught with 833 tablets or more.

The other commonlyabused drug in this State is amphetamine sulphate which
is sold in paper sachets for about £10 a gramme. A dealer would face the
10year minimum term for possession of 1 kg or more.