23 Grams of Cannabis on the Dawn......Holy cow!

[melligene]

I think I read somewhere that 1out of every 9 people are on some type of illegal drug. If you're with 8 other people....and their not...........then it's YOU! Just sayin.......:cool:

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I think I read somewhere that 1out of every 9 people are on some type of illegal drug. If you're with 8 other people....and their not...........then it's YOU! Just sayin.......:cool:

 

Slowly the masses are getting the right idea - count on the govt. to lag FAR behind though!

 

LINK

 

Tom

[LDVinNC]

We started going to Bermuda annually about 40 years ago - not so regularly the last ten years, though. We mostly flew down and stayed on the island and on more than one occasion as we passed through immigration and customs after arriving, we saw people being detained and questioned and their bags searched. So, this is not a new policy designed to make money during economic hard times. It is Bermuda LAW that they are enforcing.

[billie5]

Is a ship in that port considered to be under the laws of Bermuda,or is it where the ship is "flagged"?

 

Yes, the laws of Bermuda. By United Nations Convention, up to 12 miles from the shoreline (and so, obviously, all the ports) may be considered territorial waters, within which the laws of the nation are applicable (although innocent passage is supposed to be honored -- but not an issue for a ship at port). The legal situation in the contiguous zone (up to 24 miles) is murkier, and varies from country to country.

 

In the U.S., even crimes committed at sea involving non-Americans can sometimes be prosecuted. The issue, according to Supreme Court decisions, is how great the crime may affect the residents of the port city. Talk about murky -- a simple murder of a foreign crew member by another foreign crew member might not be prosecutable, but if the murder were sufficiently notorious (with sexual aspects perhaps, or a mass murder of many crew members), then might it be considered sufficiently offensive to the moral climate of the U.S. port? The sort of murkiness which financially supports the legal community!:o

 

Bill

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...So, this is not a new policy designed to make money during economic hard times. It is Bermuda LAW that they are enforcing.

 

I wonder if the fines have changed over the recent years. What if you don't have the $10,000 ... and can't get it? Do you get free room and board until you have paid your debt?

 

Tom

[fshagan]

Yes, the laws of Bermuda. By United Nations Convention, up to 12 miles from the shoreline (and so, obviously, all the ports) may be considered territorial waters, within which the laws of the nation are applicable (although innocent passage is supposed to be honored -- but not an issue for a ship at port). The legal situation in the contiguous zone (up to 24 miles) is murkier, and varies from country to country.

 

I was told by a ship's officer on our bridge tour on the Star that the Pilot that comes on board the ship legally takes charge of the vessel and can insist on steering the boat to the dock. Just another little way of showing that when you enter their waters, you are under their laws, and rights and privileges you have in your native country may not apply.

 

Bermuda is able to inspect the ship, and apply their laws to the people entering their country, even if the people never get off the ship. Its not like the ship is some kind of embassy; it is not American soil (they aren't even built here, or registered as American vessels in most cases).

 

Leave the dope at home so your 10 year old and Grandma can get into it. That's the only responsible thing to do. ;)

[billie5]

... the Pilot that comes on board the ship legally takes charge of the vessel and can insist on steering the boat to the dock.

Not exactly. The captain retains overall command and can relieve the pilot of his control if he deems it necessary. But if he does, all liability responsibility rests with the ship line. Traditionally, the one exception was the Panama Canal, where the captain lost all command.

 

However, I don't know if this is still true since Panama took control of the Canal. I know that the U.S. accepted unlimited financial liability after the pilot took control, when it was in charge of the Canal, and that Panama, initially at least, put a cap on its financial responsibility but was still insisting that its pilots have full and unchallengeable control, but I don't know what the final outcome of that legal issue was.

 

Bill