Ganja to ease divorce frustration

SO frustrated was he by the contents of a divorce petition, vendor Richard Kalla, 43, decided to smoke marijuana to help him ease his mind.

That landed him in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court yesterday, when he pleaded guilty to having 1.8 grammes of marijuana.

Prosecutor PC Cleyon Seedan said PC Dookie and other police from the Southern Division Task Force arrested Kalla in San Fernando on Monday. They found the marijuana in his clenched right hand. Dookie laid the charge.

Yesterday defence attorney Annalee Girwar represented Kalla who, she said, is a street vendor who lives at Naparima/Mayaro Road in Mon Repos. The father of one, Kalla is separated from his wife.

The attorney said her client was recently served with the divorce petition. Some of the things he read upset him and he decided to use the marijuana to ease the frustration. She said he is a sporadic user.

Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine, in the First Court, fined Kalla $1,000, to pay within two months. In default, he will serve three months’ hard labour in jail.