Annual Drug Report provides comprehensive info on 2018 interventions

Jul 25, 2019 News

The Ministry of Public Security published its Annual Report of the Guyana Drug Information Network (GUYDIN) for 2019 and the report is said to have comprehensive data on interventions done during the year 2018.
Its main aim is to support the development and expansion of evidence-based policies and programmes that will aid in combatting the drug problem.
A number of agencies collaborated on the numerous drug prevention and reduction ventures in the year 2018, as specialists from both the government and Non-Governmental Organisations worked together to reach over 3,000 persons countrywide, to educate them about the consequences of substance use.
It is a situation that doesn’t only have an impact on the individual themselves but also on those around them; being their family and the community at large. At the seminars and outreaches, individuals were equipped with the necessary tools to make well-informed decisions when it came to substance use. A majority of the programmes targeted youths that were both in and out of school as they were the most vulnerable group to fall prey.
The Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, also initiated a number of training programmes that had the capacity exceeding 600 persons who were trained in the areas of drug prevention and treatment interventions, so that they will be able to effectively address and possibly reduce the drug problem.
In addition, the report highlights that there were 100 persons who have received specialised treatment for problematic drug use through the Phoenix Recovery Project and the Salvation Army’s Men’s Social Service. All of these are measures put in place to address the Public Health Impact that the drug problem has on society.
The report also highlights the fact that for 2018, law enforcement agencies conducted in excess of 300 seizures of illicit drugs and over 20 eradication operations, a majority of the latter along the Berbice River areas.
A total of 579,412 kilograms of narcotics were eliminated from the market and over 500 persons were charged in connection with them over that period. Drugs seized included cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, and methamphetamines.

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