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By ROISIN GADELRAB
 
Addict can keep his foil and Rizlas

'Paraphernalia' Asbo refused

A JUDGE has refused to ban a drug addict from carrying drug paraphernalia on the grounds the definition is too vague.
Just days after Camden Council leader Raj Chadha refused to rule out the possibility of taking out anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) against sellers of drug paraphernalia in a bid to clean up the borough’s streets, deputy district judge Tim Daber has dealt a blow to the idea.
Granting an interim anti-social behaviour order against drug user Franciso Tomas, Judge Daber, said: “There’s this problem of defining what paraphernalia is. Is it an empty coke can? Does it have to be adapted? There are a lot of everyday items that are involved in drug taking, for example Rizlas and silver foil.”
At a hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on Thursday, Camden Council successfully secured an interim anti-social behaviour order against Tomas, who allegedly smoked crack in Barnes House, Camden Road, stole from drunk people and was found in possession of drug paraphernalia.
Tomas, of no fixed abode, was banned from parts of Camden but prosecutor Peter Johns failed to persuade the court to add a condition stopping him from carrying any paraphernalia associated with his habit.
Mr Johns told the court police officers often struggled to catch a user in the act because it only took a matter of seconds for the drugs to be consumed. He argued stopping Tomas from carrying anything associated with drug use would make it more difficult for him to reoffend.
Tomas was banned from parts of the borough and prohibited from acting in a manner likely to cause harassment, distress or alarm to any person not of the same household as himself. The order was made until April 18.
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