The time is now for a full out war on drugs and drug usage in Guyana

Jan 29, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Firstly permit me to offer condolences to the grieving family of 15-year-old Vanica Schultz, and also to a nation that should certainly be in mourning for one of its potential future leaders. Needless to say her demise has brought many issues to the fore, issues that not only highlight the modus operandi of current governmental agencies in Guyana, their lethargic molasses-type manner of action, but above all reflects the country’s level of social progress.
Just a mere three months ago on September 18, 2018, the Deputy Head of Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Leslie Ramlall, sounded the clarion, making the nation aware that the drug Ecstasy was gaining a strong foothold among the young population especially children attending schools. He further asserted that the drug was readily available at many night clubs and parties, which was a new trend, but an extremely worrisome one for the nation. Investigations into several schools in Regions Three and Four revealed the use of Ecstasy among students of Regions 3 and 4, as well as popping up in several schools across the nation.
Also throwing in his two bits to further strengthen this admonition, the Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said, “To see it in schools means that we are losing the battle. It is a bad thing.” He implored parents, religious institutions, and communities to assist law enforcement agencies in the fight against the illicit and licit drugs. We’ve become too individualistic and even don’t care about some of our children.”
An old adage runs thus: ‘If shark seh sea deep, believe he, he live ah sea’. The premonitory words were being uttered unbridled from the horse’s mouth, why was credence not applied.
Now here we are four months later surrounded by increasing sensationalism over something that we had been prior forewarned and should have acted upon if we wanted to forestall harm. Were any of the aforementioned recommendations acted upon? If so what form did the follow-up take?
The nation should hang its head in collective shame, as this case emphasizes and strengthens Ramjattan’s plea. Now drug education should be made compulsory for all schoolchildren, for the less children comprehend the effects of drugs, the more likely is a recurrence of such incidents. The death should galvanize public debate.
In 1912, a chemist attached to the German pharmaceutical company Merck created Ecstasy, originally known as “Methylsafrylaminc,” and in close social circles as “Molly”, with the intent being to amalgamate medications that control bleeding. The drug proved to be a failure and was relegated to a shelf life until the 1950’s, when the government experimented with it and other drugs.
In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, it gained a small following among psychiatrists, despite not having been tested or received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in humans. It was the belief by some psychiatrists that during patient sessions the drug improved communication and permitted the patients to gain insight into their problems. It was also during this time that the drug became more widely available on the streets.
In 1985 the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) declared an emergency ban on the drug, and placed it on the list of Schedule 1 drugs, which are defined as substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
From since then it remained a Schedule I substance, with the exception of a brief period of time between 1987 and 1988. In the early 1990s, the FDA approved the first human trial exploring whether Methylsafrylaminc could help relieve pain in terminally ill patients, as well as serve as an appurtenance to psychotherapy.
Many associate Molly’s resurgence to the return of electronic Dance Music and pulsating Euro Beat that has infiltrated the sound of famous pop radio acts.
The nation cannot allow parents to undergo further higher personal losses, with a resultant diminution in the number of future leaders. The taxpayers should lobby immediately for changes in the way the seemingly laughable courts operate.
This case may be used as the test case. It is my expressed hope that whoever is the individual responsible for Vanita’s access to the drug, in some way be held accountable.
The school’s director has announced that the students will now be subjected to random drug testing, following prior parental authorization.
While such a gesture may appear as a move in the right direction, nevertheless it pales in comparison to other moves that should precede it. The home environment is of prime importance as well as those in immediate contact with the student within the home environment. Psychologists claim that if teens are in a place where they are looking for acceptance and a sense of belonging, then they are most likely at a greater risk of abuse.
The hapless female was reportedly in a relationship with an alleged pusher from since she was 13 years. How aware were the parents of this blossoming but twisted relationship? When did they meet? Was the day of her death, the date of her first encounter with Molly? If not, is there any adult who can truthfully and conscientiously claim that in the case of the deceased they have observed strange behaviours or deviation from the norm whether attributable to drugs or not? Are her peers now guardians to a big secret, or victims of missed intervention?
The Guyanese taxpayers should lobby for changes in the way the useless and laughable courts work and in addition bring pressure to bear on the appointed Judges, holding them more accountable and not allowing gangsters and criminals with 50-plus criminal convictions off on minor technicalities when they are arrested and charged.
The time is now for a full out war on drugs and drug usage in Guyana, with no stone left unturned and no pusher left unpunished. If the nation has to start from the cradle then so be it. Example is the best teacher and knowledge is power.

Y. Sam

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