Young people in the Isle of Man are being told they have a clear choice where controlled drugs are concerned.

Sentencing a drug trafficker to 15 years in prison, Deemster Doyle said involvement in such substances was highly likely to wreck their lives and those of others.

He said young people should say 'no' to drugs and 'yes' to life and liberty.

Twenty-three year old Mark Clinton received the biggest sentence ever handed down by a Manx court for a drugs offence, after bringing ?78,000 worth of cocaine into the Island.

Deemster Doyle told Clinton dealers in Class A drugs, and those who brought the substances to the Island would be punished severely.

Large-scale drug misuse posed an exceptional threat to our society, he said, and offences involving Class A drugs merited significant punishment, at a level capable of deterring others.

He said people who got involved in drugs and survived would get caught and it was highly likely prison would follow.

They may end up spending the majority of the rest of their valuable lives in prison, and that would be a terrible and tragic waste.

(Image: Stock picture of cocaine).