man caught with cannabis near a social club.

Robert MacRonald pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court on Thursday to possessing 1.13 grams of cannabis.

Crown counsel Lesley Basden said a mobile patrol unit stopped near the Young Men's Social Club on Angle Street in Pembroke on June 11.

When officers told 27-year-old MacRonald, of Tamarind Vale, Warwick, that he would be searched he replied: "I'm going to a party.'' Police searched him and found cigarette papers and a plastic twist containing the drug.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis fined MacRonald $200 for the cannabis and $1,000 for having the drug in an increased penalty zone.

And Mr. Francis warned other users: "That area down there better dry up pretty quickly, because I may start adding $1,500.''