Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan says he is disheartened by findings in the 2016 Household Drug Survey which found among other things that alcohol binge drinking is as high as 64.2% in males and 46.3% in females.
He was speaking at the launching of the survey at the Cara Lodge Hotel yesterday.
Noting that this survey followed a major survey of Drug Use among Secondary School Students in 2015, Ramjattan said “These cold, hard facts about the state of our households as it relates to households use of licit and illicit drugs, that is tobacco, alcohol, marijuana among others, tells a worrying story.
Behind these statistics too we will come to know what we have become, and what we can do about it.”
He said that he had been given a preview of the findings of the Survey by its compositor Mike Atherley and added “quite frankly I feel disheartened by them.”
The findings include:
Alcohol
Alcohol binge drinking among current users is as high as: in males
64.2 % and in females 46. 3%.
Further, he said that 21.5% of respondents from Region 3 and 24.5% from Region 7 said that there is a great deal of drug dealing in their neighbourhoods.
“My intention here is not to create a moral panic, but in all honesty, and I wish to repeat words I used at the School Survey Launch, these statistics paint a picture which shames us all. It is an outrage! And we must do something about it”, Ramjattan declared, according to the text of his presentation released by the ministry.
He said that these troubling statistics have been corroborated by the Traffic Chief who recently informed him that from the period 1st to 15th January 2017 as compared to 1st to 15th January 2016, the cases made out of driving under the influence of alcohol tripled.
There was 89 in early 2016. It is now 228 in early 2017, he added.
He noted that a number of recommendations were made in the survey and said that these will have to be added to those stated in the Drug Strategy Master Plan 2016-2020.
Recommendations proposed to curb illicit drug use include:
The need for regular sensitization on the harmful effects of licit and illicit drug use. The materials developed should cover both the desired effects and the serious consequences associated with drug use. Prevention messages should be appropriate for different age ranges and the needs of individual drug users and should provide alternatives to drug use.
Drug addiction should be given greater priority in health promotion and disease prevention programmes.
Continued training of persons who have shown an interest in the field of treatment and prevention and the establishment of more treatment and rehab centres across the country.
Creation of more recreational centres and spaces for individuals appropriate to the various stages in the life-cycle.
Expansion in job training and economic insertion activities.
Create and implement mentorship programmes for youths coming from communities and households that display risk factors for illicit drug use.
The survey was sponsored by the Organisation of American States and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission.
