Being barred from entering the United States for smoking a spliff will be a thing of the past when Government changes the penalties for use of certain drugs.During yesterday’s Senate debate on the Throne Speech, Government Senate Leader Kim Wilson, elaborated on Government’s plans to reform penalties for certain drug crimes, stressing that Government does not condone illegal drug activity.“However, we also recognise that some individuals because of their own personal choices, may engage in certain types of drug use which will result in not only an arrest and not only a conviction but equally and perhaps more importantly may be prohibited from travelling to certain jurisdictions, the United States is a case in point,” Sen Wilson said.“It’s a travesty to note that there are individuals in this community who through their own personal choices are unable to go to the United States to be educated or for medical reasons. And this government is committed to looking at that.”The Senator told of how, as a young duty counsel lawyer, she had represented a young student who had been caught smoking a marijuana spliff on Horseshoe Bay. She had asked the editor of the newspaper not to print the story, but he refused.“The editor at the time thought I was trying to pervert the course of justice, and I wasn’t. I just knew that this boy was not going back to school in September. Sure enough he was put on the Stop List for a spliff.”