THE National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) says it is taking action to stem the prevalence of drug use among young people by educating them.
Executive Director of the NCDA, Michael Tucker told the Jamaica Observer that their primary responsibility right now is protecting young people from the negative consequences of using drugs.
This comes on the heels of reports that students were ingesting marijuana in candies and the recent legislative amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act, which created several opportunities for the use of marijuana in Jamaica because of the de-criminalization of small amounts of the weed.
The NCDA, with the support of the Ministry of Health, yesterday launched a public education campaign themed “Ganja: Know the Facts, Know How to Act”.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Tucker told journalists that the campaign is expected to inform the public on the boundaries of the legislation, an individual’s rights and liabilities under the Act, behavioural responsibilities in the new legislative environment and the NCDA’s role in supporting and protecting vulnerable populations.
“The council will be taking a multi-tiered, collaborative approach to managing and preventing or reducing harm to high risk groups through a public health strategy, which includes mass media; advocacy and regulations; education programming and surveillance,” Tucker said.
He said that through the campaign, the council is hoping to reduce by 30 per cent the number of persons arrested for the possession of more than two ounces of ganja in public places and the caseload of criminal courts for ganja possession. He said the council was also hoping to see a decrease in the number of students ages 13-18 who start smoking ganja while still in school.
The director said the NCDA was working outside of the public education programme to inform the youth.
The minister of health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has given his stamp of approval to the campaign as he lauded the work of the NCDA to target vulnerable populations.
“The youth population, persons with mental illness, pregnant women and other vulnerable populations are being specifically targeted. The general population needs to be made aware and to be encouraged to know all they can about the new legislation such as the boundaries of the legislation, individual rights and liabilities under the Act and most importantly, behavioural responsibilities in the new legislative environment,” Dr. Ferguson said.
According to the Jamaica Secondary School Survey of 2013, the overall lifetime prevalence of marijuana use in the youth population is 20 per cent, with the average age of marijuana first use being 13 years.
The minister urged parents to acquaint themselves with the information on the new legislation in order to protect themselves and their children.
