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is the most vulnerable of CARICOM states.

most vulnerable groups include women, youth, elderly, disabled and children in exploitative labour conditions.

doesn’t measure existing poverty

However, the same studies reveal an increase in informal youth movements promoting democratic changes in many countries, interconnected and mobilized in non-traditional ways, especially via social networks

Justice Keith Thom, who yesterday jailed a woman for three years and fined her $300,000 for cocaine possession, said authorities should increase the penalties for indictable drug offences.

The judge said drug trafficking is “a serious thriving trade” thus penalties need to be severe to deter traffickers and drug mules.

In handing down the sentence on Canadian visitor Maria Cathrina Bertrand, Justice Thom highlighted that under The Misuse of Drugs Act, the court could not impose a sentence exceeding seven years in prison.

The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda announced on Friday, May 8, the launch of a commission to oversee the process of decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana.

Hurst says the government wants to give young people with a criminal drug history a second chance.

Hurst explained that drug charges can interfere with young people, especially men, getting college scholarships or visas.

As the sun sinks just below the horizon, Jorge Sandoval strolls across a dusty street. He's a small man in his 50s, who runs volunteer patrols. The neighborhood is poor. The houses are cobbled together out of leftover wood and pieces of metal. Two years ago, Sandoval says, these streets used to be desolate and controlled by gangs. Parallels Nicaragua Follows Its Own Path In Dealing With Drug Traffickers "They would shoot at each other at all hours," Sandoval says. "Suddenly you'd find someone injured, someone innocent, because they just didn't care."

The Dimitrov neighborhood in the capital of Nicaragua used to be one of the most dangerous in the country.

It was so dangerous that its 10 or so square blocks accounted for 20 percent of all the crime of Managua, a city of 1.2 million people.

“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

In their paper, the officers argue that the United States has to move from “containment” — the foreign policy established after World War II to limit the expansion and influence of the Soviet Union — to what they call “sustainment” or sustainability.

The first priority, they write, should be “intellectual capital and a sustainable infrastructure of education, health and social services to provide for the continuing development and growth of America’s youth.”

Nicaragua continued to be a major drug transshipment point for South American cocaine flowing to the United States in 2011. Nicaragua‘s limited law enforcement capabilities and sparsely populated regions provide an enabling environment for drug

Drug consumption in Nicaragua rose in 2011, particularly on the Atlantic coast where the transshipment of drugs is highest.

U.S. assistance in Nicaragua is focused on enhancing the abilities of government law enforcement agencies to detect and intercept shipments, detain traffickers, stop the laundering of illegal profits from the drug industry, and support preventative programs to protect youth from drugs and recruitment into gangs.

Drug trafficking is heavier on the north coast of Nicaragua, the Caribbean side. On this side of the country, drug consumption is also heavier. One foundation that works on behalf of drug addicts estimated that there are 300,000 drug users in this country of less than six million people. This is a 300 percent increase in the last five years. Half of these drug users are found in the country’s high schools and universities.

icaragua, like most other Central American countries, lies directly on the route of scores of tons of Colombian cocaine making its way to North America and Europe. Much of this cocaine travels overland through at least part of Central America, though some may be repackaged for sea or air shipment at any point along the line.

Nicaragua’s social problems, such as untrustworthy law enforcement, few services for its citizens and widespread poverty mean that few Nicaraguans find publicly-funded addiction treatment programs when they become addicted. Non-government organizations funded by churches or foundations recruit volunteers to help those who need drug rehab.