There is a higher prevalence of drug use by students from private schools than those from public schools with use of drugs occurring at a younger age, according to a survey done in 2013.
Use of cocaine and marijuana is occurring at a younger age than before, the study published by the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission says. The survey was conducted during the May-June period of 2013 among 1890 students from 28 secondary schools across the country.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Public Security, the report presents key findings related to the consumption of licit and illicit drugs among secondary school students in Guyana based on the information collected from a sample of secondary school students from both public and private schools across the country. It said that among the findings were increases in the average age of first time use for tobacco, alcohol, crack and ecstasy when compared to the results of a previous survey done in 2007. Further, the survey revealed that students were using marijuana and cocaine at a marginally lower age when the two survey results were compared.
Speaking at the launch of the full report yesterday, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan said that after a sneak preview of the report, he is disheartened with the results. He pointed out that the average age of a first time user of marijuana is 12.8 years, while that of cocaine is 12.1 years and other drugs 11.7 years.
It was stated that 52% of the students admitted to consuming alcohol at least once in their lifetime, while 31% of students responded that they consumed alcohol in the last 12 months and another 16% admitted that they did so in the last 30 days. Another 16% appears to be ‘binge drinkers.’ As it relates to binge drinking in schools, Ramjattan said that Guyana currently has the highest rate in the Caribbean.
According to the minister, the students who use drugs are the ones that may want to skip school several times a month and are on the lower end of the performance level. These same students get into arguments and fights more often and would have more problems with family members. A number of them have reported that they often and almost often talked about suicide, he added.
“The final strategy has not been worked out as yet but the aim of the present drug strategy is to reduce the use of drugs and minimize the harm that they can cause to individual users and even the community at large,” said Ramjattan. This will see the involvement of experts who had previously talked about reducing demand and supply of the drugs and also providing treatment options and developing a skilled workforce to response to drug use and abuse, he said.
“The problem is not the supply, production and consumption of drug substance but the major issue is the effect of the drugs on people behaviour that makes them a danger to others including the general society,” the minister asserted.
Meantime, according to the survey, 18% of public schools students have used illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime whereas in private schools, 24.5% of students did.
A total of 30 secondary schools were selected to participate in the survey. The schools selected were drawn from regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. Georgetown was treated separately for the purposes of the survey. The 30 schools selected comprised 19 public schools drawn from regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and Georgetown; and 11 were private schools drawn from Regions 3, 4, 5, 6 and Georgetown.
Based on the reports of the survey, the most commonly used drugs among the student population are cigarettes, inhalants, alcohol and marijuana. While marijuana remains the most accessible illegal drug, cocaine is the least accessible. The results revealed that the highest prevalence of drug use is in private schools and inhalants are the first drug of choice for most students with an average age of first use of 10.8 years, compared to alcohol which is 12 years.
Generally, students in secondary schools nationwide are not curious to try a drug even if given the opportunity to do so with more than 80% responding no to this question. As it relates to their awareness of the dangers of drug use, more than 50% of the students indicated that using any type of drug is very harmful to their health.
Other findings from the survey showed that in comparison with the 2007 results, there were increases in the average age for first time users of tobacco, alcohol, crack and ecstasy. However, all prevalence rates for tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and crack use declined in 2013 when compared to the results of the 2007 survey.
US Charge d’Affaires Bryan Hunt, at the launch, said that educating young people about the dangers of drug use is an important part of the approach to disrupt the use of drugs. He said that if there will be any success in reducing demand for drugs among this country, there must be a better understanding of the reasons why young people decide to experiment with drugs in the first place.
He said that whether it is because of some feelings of depression or simply peer pressure, many young Guyanese are increasingly looking into drug use as a way out and more must be done to stop this trend. The US embassy, he said, is committed to continue working with governmental and non-government agencies, the private sector and all those who want to work towards the disruption of the use of drugs especially by the young generation.
