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Young People Stuck In Durg Trafficking ™/ Text / Nicholas Asamoah / Chloe Forde / Pic / Matthew Sackey 25th January 2008 More and more impressionable young people are falling prey to adults who seek to exploit by luring them into the seedy and violent world of drugs. The Cut explores this shocking new trend. In July last year, two north London college students, Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, were arrested at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport in Ghana in possession of 6 kilograms of cocaine, which they were attempting to smuggle into the UK. Last month they were found guilty and subsequently sentenced to a year’s imprisonment in a juvenile prison. The pair claimed that they were exploited by a man who paid them to bring the drugs into Britain. The case caused alarm bells among those working with young people, that the most vulnerable and impressionable could fall prey to adults seeking to exploit and lure them into the seedy and violent world of drugs. The case has been a wake up call to show that drug trafficking is a serious threat to young people and more needs to be done to tackle the suppliers, to stop them from drawing in young people and ruining their lives. Julia Goldsworthy, an MP for the Liberal Democrats, believes there is too much lip service and not enough action taken to solve this solution. “I think when politicians talk about drugs, it’s always like they talk about the people using the drugs and not about how it is getting into the country. It’s the same with knife and gun crime, they always talk about people using rather than how it got into the country in the first place. “I think they need to do a lot more to protect our borders and actually focus on where the real crime is and where there is the most violence.” As long ago as 1995, the government were warned by teachers in primary schools that their pupils already displayed some knowledge of drug misuse - they may have witnessed instances of use and trafficking amongst older children and adults. This case highlights that even more needs to be done. A minority of young people have been caught up in the issue of drugs, which has affected the increase of crime rate within the UK. Gun and knife crime involving young people have risen by 35%, and there are crimes, which have gone unreported. One cause of this has been related to the usage and production of drugs. As we know, some young people have encountered drugs by the tender age of 11. Young people can easily get these drugs maybe through family, friends or external links they have been in contact with. † The Effects Of Drug Trafficking † Dwelleyne, a youth worker, highlights the effect of drugs have in the long term as well as the short term and what steps need to be taken to prevent the new generation to avoid the situation that the two girls, Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, are facing: “The impact it has on their life, it takes away their motivation and because they are smoking they can not be bothered to other things, so they do not progress in life. They drop out of school maybe. Sometimes they do school but do not go to lessons but spend most of their time smoking. The impact that I have seen cannabis have on the young people I deal with is that it is stopping them from achieving their potential.” He also believes that there are many opportunities open for young people to achieve their potential but the money the government has given has not been invested in the right places. “There a lot of opportunities for the young people but I do not always know where the money is going to. The government does provide money for the young people but sometimes it does not go to the right ones.” During the case, the UK and Ghana officials launched a joint initiative to send a statement of intent in the battle against international drug smuggling. This includes programmes that aim to tackle rising levels of cocaine smuggling in Ghana. As many politicians say, you need to be able to talk the talk and walk the walk. This is what we as a country lack and this can lead to a new generation of young children being involved in crimes. We need to look after the welfare of this country and protect our borders. The Prime Minister has to take action to stop this from escalating before more young lives are blighted.		Bashy Interview The Cool Kids Lady Lykes Grimes New School Rowdy Superstar Interview The Sound Of Reason Slash Interview Hoxton Vs Hampstead Fashion Young Designers Lucinda Chua Interview Will Kay Interview The Brothers Size Chris Lambert Duane Henry Drug Trafficking Feature Does My Bum Look Big in This Life After Prison Whats Upsetting Our Children MP Julia Goldsworthy Autechre Live In London Hardcore Is More Than Music Media Box Paddington Development Trust The Cut On Myspace