ALCOHOL, tobacco and ganja use among youngsters are the primary problems identified in 20 communities across the island, that the National Council on Drug Abuse is targeting to build awareness about the risk factors of substance abuse.

Having conducted a risk assessment in these communities, the NCDA is now using a participatory approach to support these communities through parenting training sessions, talent shows, road marches, health fairs, and drug awareness drives in schools, under the theme: Empowering communities for a safer, healthier, drug-free Jamaica.

Drug abuse or substance abuse is the use of a drug for something other than its intended purpose or in an illegal manner. This use or misuse may lead to social, mental, physical, or psychological harm.

NCDA Secretariat Executive Director Michael Tucker told the Jamaica Observer that the risk assessment, which looked at the risk of substance abuse occurring in these communities, found that though most parents linked drug use to motor vehicle accidents and violence, not many thought of its implications for the health of their children.

“…Many of the parents and caregivers didn’t really have adequate knowledge, they didn’t realise, when we started to talk to them about the negative consequences of both tobacco and alcohol use, that there were so many negative aspects surrounding it,” said Tucker. “Some of them didn’t link it to irresponsible sexual behaviour, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, or maybe even HIV/AIDS.”

He also told the Sunday Observer that about 90 per cent of the youngsters in the NCDA’s counselling system, which are drawn from the educational system or the correctional services, present with issues of using ganja and some other substance.

Tucker said that parents in these communities did, however, realise that the effort of the entire community is necessary to prevent substance abuse.

“They recognised, as parents, they had to do something and the fact is that they had to work with the retailers and the promoters of parties in these particular communities, to not only [promote] the message of prevention and not using, but also to cut off the supply,” Tucker declared. “Because, the youngsters will be tempted and inclined to experiment.”

The communities, some of which are Olympic Gardens and Lawrence Tavern in St Andrew, Truro and Little London in Westmoreland, and Duckensfield in St Thomas, were selected in an effort to try to reach several sections of the island.

“…UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) did identify about four of the communities where there was nothing much happening, and they wanted to ensure that as much as possible, there is an impact on those communities because there were significant risks for substance abuse occurring in those communities,” explained Tucker. “So it was a mixture and match of those various things and of course too, the facility of our staff members, our field officers, to actually service those communities – meaning the initial contact to work with them and then some follow-up after with the plan of action.”

Tucker emphasised that unless communities are involved, efforts to prevent substance abuse and in effect its many implications, will not be sustainable.

“The reality for most of the issues we have to deal with, both positive and negative, is that the genesis is in the community,” Tucker insisted. “If you stay on the outside and you assume you know what is good for a particular community or any group, most of the times they come on board because they want some benefit, but there’s no continuity or no sustainability and you get little or no cooperation once the benefits run out.”