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Drug use, abuse significantly impacting Caribbean – CARICOM official
Beverly Reynolds, Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat
– UG to focus on demand reduction in its curricula
Drug use and abuse has for many years been recognised as a challenge countries across the world, Guyana being no exception, face which in some instances lend to criminal activities and violence.
In light of this state of affairs, the University of Guyana is poised to embrace a move which will incorporate addressing drug demand reduction in its curricula.
In amplifying the need for such programmes at the university level, Ms Beverly Reynolds, Programme Manager, Health Sector Development Programme at the CARICOM Secretariat, noted that in the Caribbean, alcohol and marijuana are the most popular drugs used.
She was at the time addressing the start of a two-day workshop on Tuesday at the Regency Suites/Hotel, Brickdam, Georgetown, which was geared at sensitising faculty members of the impact of drug use and abuse.
According to Reynolds, it has been deduced, too, that the users are mainly males who often opt to make payments for their passion in product rather than cash. She noted that illicit drug use is significantly related to crime and violence, especially gang-related violence.
In alluding to what she described as the ‘ABC’ of the narco trade in the Caribbean, Reynolds said that the cycle revolves with persons first starting to abuse their substance of choice which develops to addiction allowing for “big business” and eventually translates to corruption.
Her presentation also made reference to the push and pull factors associated with drug trafficking, use and addiction in the Caribbean ranging from the psycho-social impact and resulting economic hardship.
The psycho-social blow, according to Reynolds, could start with mere experimentation, develop into social exclusion, deterioration of family life and values, greed, stress, and inadequate life and social skills to deal with problems.
The resulting outcome could be economic challenges which could become evident by high levels of unemployment, poverty, weak institutional framework and systems, weak law enforcement capacity, outdated legislation, gaps in the judiciary system and even inadequate or inappropriate technology.
The consequences of illicit drug use could extend to crime-causing instability and insecurity and create health challenges, even contributing to the spread of HIV and impacting both social and economic development.
With empirical evidence to support the daunting impact of drug use and abuse, Reynolds said that it was just over a year ago that the Organisation of American States (OAS) through CICAD – the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission – under the leadership of Dr Gloria Wright, invited the CARICOM Secretariat and the universities of the Caribbean to collaborate.
The collaboration was to initiate a partnership of an initiative to integrate drug demand reduction content in the curricula of faculties in Caribbean universities.
“The University of Guyana was one of the 10 universities present at the initial meeting and I wish to congratulate them for being among the first of three universities to be awarded the grant to implement the project,” Reynolds said. The local university has been endowed with a US$20,000 grant.
The overall goal of the initiative, she explained, is to build a cadre of knowledgeable and skilled practitioners to address the increasing problem of drug use and addiction in member states. According to her, addressing the problem of drug use and addiction would by extension contribute to the reduction in crime and violence in member states.
Reynolds pointed out, too, that the initiative could not have come at a better time, since the Region’s very development is being threatened by drug use and addiction.
“We know of the link between drug use and crime and violence. We know of the havoc on families and we also know that drug addiction is a treatable medical condition. We accept that this phenomenon negatively impacts on all aspects of our collective lives and that no one sector can successfully address the problems.”
As such, it was revealed that there has always been an expectation and a history for universities to chart the waters for development. Accordingly, Reynolds asserted that integrating of drug demand reduction in the various faculties is one way of ensuring that a holistic, multi-dimensional approach is taken as “we seek to address drug use and addiction in our respective countries”.
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