Race consultant Rolfe Commissiong yesterday accused Pembroke MP Ashfield DeVent of failing to attack the real source of Bermuda's problems by focusing on the evils of drugs.

Mr. Commissiong said drugs are a mere symptom of Bermuda's social illness — and the root causes are issues such as racial inequality and the marginalisation of the black community.

The consultant argued Mr. DeVent had been too quiet on those topics over the years, and hit back at the MP's claim that the Mincy Report and Mr. Commissiong had only told people what they already knew.

"MP DeVent can't have it both ways," said Mr. Commissiong yesterday.

"You can't on the one hand express in a cynical way that everyone knows what the issues are with the black economy and social marginalisation, yet go missing when it comes to items like the workforce equity bill. On issues like racial equality he invariably goes missing in action.

"In many respects, Ashfield DeVent is an invisible MP on this and other issues while holding a position of leadership that could effect real change.

"Whether it's on the workforce equity bill or issues of economic empowerment for black Bermudians, he's not been at the forefront.

"Instead, he's been singing what I call this one note in terms of drugs decriminalisation.

"I think, like Superintendent Antoine Daniels, that that's symptomatic and not the fundamental issue of what we are facing here, in terms of the underlying problem. The problem is a breakdown in our system."

In yesterday's Royal Gazette, Mr. DeVent said MPs need to start thinking outside the box to tackle gang violence. He believes decriminalising some illegal drugs would remove some of the profitability, and called for a House of Assembly debate on Bermuda's drug laws.

Yesterday, Mr. Commissiong said debate on drugs should only come as part of a broader debate on social problems.

He said: "Part of the answer is we need to ask the question, following MP DeVent's train of thought, why do we have such a large number of Bermudians who are essentially medicating with narcotics? We know it's a major problem in Bermuda's black community; one that particularly bedevils the black community.

"It goes right back to the socioeconomic marginalisation of that group.

"The bottom line, at least in the developed world, is that wherever you have a country with a wide disparity of income and wealth, marginalised populations are often beset with the same challenges as here."

This newspaper reported yesterday how Mr. DeVent was frustrated that people had not heeded warnings about increasing drug use over the years.

He said of the Mincy Report and Mr. Commissiong: "Truthfully, I don't think either of them have said anything that most people didn't already know. These people knew opportunities weren't equal for them."