system did not help to deal with importation of drugs.

The Hon. Sir James Astwood made the comment after granting an appeal by the Crown to increase the sentence of a convicted drug importer on Thursday.

He sent Jay Yusefi Tucker to prison for one year, telling him he was lucky because if he had been sentenced in Supreme Court he would have gotten at least two years.

"Drugs are not going to be tolerated in this Country,'' Sir James said. "The Tumim report dealt with a lot of things but he (Judge Stephen Tumim) did not deal with the problem we have here of drugs and the importing of them.'' Tucker, 22, had been handed a suspended prison term in Magistrates' Court last October after pleading guilty to importing eight pounds of cannabis in a Jamaican wood carving.

The Pembroke resident also admitted possessing the $12,500 worth of cannabis with intent to supply it. However, he said most of it was for his own use and he planned to give some away to his friends for free.

Mr. Perry Trott, representing Tucker, pointed to reports recommending the courts move towards rehabilitation rather then imprisonment. He said Tucker had a steady job and supported his family and pregnant girlfriend.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis, accepting Tucker's claim the cannabis was for his own use, fined him $5,000 and gave him a six month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun appeal the sentence, which Sir James heard at the end of last year.

Sir James, in handing down his decision yesterday morning, agreed the circumstances in Tucker's case were not exceptional enough to warrant a suspended prison term.

His age and family problems were not exceptional circumstances, he said, adding that though Tucker might not have planned to sell the cannabis, he was still planning to supply it.

It did not matter whether he was going to charge for it, Sir James said. The Chief Justice allowed the appeal saying the sentence Mr. Francis had handed down was "manifestly inadequate''.