Caribbean prosecutors for drug training here Stabroek News July 14, 1998 Police prosecutors from around the Caribbean will participate in a University of the West Indies/United Nations Drug Control Programme (UWI/UNDCP) sponsored training workshop to be held this week at Le Meridien Pegasus. A police press release Monday said 62 officers will undergo an advanced training workshop in the prosecution of drug offences and this is being done in a further effort to combat drugs in the region. The officers will come from Anguilla, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The workshop is being co-ordinated by Faith Marshall-Harris, project co-ordinator of the UWI/UNDCP legal training programme and will include lectures on trial techniques, principles of evidence and the presentation of evidence and exhibits at a moot trial. The release said resource personnel will be drawn from legal authorities in Guyana and the Caribbean. Guyana has a national commission on drugs (NANCOM) which is chaired by the head of state. The release said NANCOM has five sub-committees: (1) The joint operational sub-committee, which is chaired by the Minister of Home Affairs, is responsible for all joint operational strategy and its effective implementation. (2) The intelligence sub-committee, which is chaired by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, is responsible for the effective operation of the joint intelligence co-ordinating centre. (3) The legal sub-committee, which is chaired by the Attorney General, is responsible for the revision and production of all legislation in support of Guyana's anti-narcotic drug strategy. (4) The international relations sub-committee, which is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is responsible for the implementation of all bilateral and multilateral agreements on narcotics. (5) The educational and rehabilitation sub-committee, which is chaired by the Minister of Health, is responsible for the demand reduction strategy and its effective implementation. As it relates to law enforcement, Guyana has a multi-agency approach. The release stated that the laws are enforced by the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Customs and Excise Department and the Guyana Defence Force (Coast Guard). According to the release the GPF has a demand reduction programme which includes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Programme taught to school children, a drug awareness programme, a youth club programme and an outreach programme which targets youths from the Tiger Bay area in Georgetown by occupying their spare time in social, educational and vocational training activities. Ongoing training in the various disciplines of drug law enforcement for police officers at different levels is being conducted locally and overseas through the UNDCP and law enforcement agencies in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America and Canada, the release said.