rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

she was selling but not using drugs. Also in
2006 a villager was sentenced to five years’
gaol after telling the Fiji court that planting
and selling marijuana were more profitable
because marijuana took a short time
to mature, while other crops such as cassava
needed more work. 281 The persistence of
these motivators for cultivation is supported
by data collected by the FSMed and Burnet
Institute in late 2008 to early 2009, which
included focus group discussions with cannabis
growers. 282 Given the current climate
of hardship in Fiji, due to internal troubles
and external economic pressures, it is likely
these pressures will persist and that cannabis
use will remain a police focus.
Finally, the NSAAC reported that, of 178
outpatients treated at St Giles Psychiatric
Hospital, 107 were treated for conditions associated
with marijuana use. For 2006, the
NSAAC reported that there were 180 admissions
to St Giles Hospital associated with
marijuana use. 283
Other
In August 2008, police reported the recent
seizure of 100 cubes (2 kilograms) of cocaine
in Nadi. They were located on two travellers
from Columbia and Mexico. To assist in the
prosecution process, Fiji Police sought assistance
from overseas forensics teams, noting
they were trying to establish whether the
drugs were bound for New Zealand, Australia
or possibly for clients in Fiji. 284 The view that
a small amount of cocaine is consumed locally
is supported by data collected as part
of the Fiji research undertaken by the FSMed
and the Burnet Institute. 285
Fiji has also been identified as a destination
or transhipment point for other illicit substances
over the last decade. In 2000, 375
kilograms of heroin were seized; in 2002, 74
kilograms of methamphetamine were seized
in Singapore on a ship travelling to Fiji and
Australia; and in 2004 there was a significant
seizure at a crystal methamphetamine
‘super’ laboratory yielding 5 kilograms of
61
281 Marijuana grower gets 5 year sentence, Fiji Times, 13 January 2006. See Fiji Times Online:
: report of 2.9 kilograms of dried marijuana leaves and 112 mature
plants destroyed; a five-year sentence imposed for the first count of possession and two years for
cultivation of an illicit drug to be served concurrently.
282 Burnet Institute & Fiji School of Medicine above, fn.69.
283 NSAAC’s Fiji country report, 3rd PDARN meeting, July 2008.
284 Overseas detectives to help with Fiji drug case, Fijilive.com, 26 September 2008. Available at:
(accessed April 2009).
285 Burnet Institute & Fiji School of Medicine above, fn.69.
Fiji