John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
GOVERNOR-GENERAL Sir Howard Cooke officially declared November, 'Drug Awareness Month' with the reading of a proclamation at a brief function at King's House on Thursday.
Speaking to The Gleaner, Ellen Grizzle, director of information and research at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), said the activities to be held during the month under the theme: 'Drug abuse prevention, breaking the chain between drugs, sex and violence', are aimed at highlighting the problem of drug abuse and the role it plays in risky sexual behaviour and crime and violence in Jamaica.
DRUG ABUSE AND
HIV/AIDS INFECTION
Meanwhile, Michael Tucker, executive director of the NCDA, said there was an increase in the problem of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS infection, which is linked to the increase in crime and violence, especially among the youth.
INCREASING PROBLEM
"The information that comes to us does seem to point in that direction, that a lot of the youngsters on the street are being solicited because of a number of problems, (for example) poverty and as a result of them needing resources, funds to support whatever habit they have...," Mr. Tucker told The Gleaner. He said there was a growing number of men turning towards prostitution as a means of getting the resources to support their habit, oftentimes, of drug abuse.
"For the population in treatment and rehab(ilitation) the statistics tell us that for one in every 12 persons there is HIV-positive (and) we are very aware that a lot of those people who are HIV-positive and are substance abusers are not in rehab (ilitation), they are actually on the streets," said Mr. Tucker.
He noted there was an increasing problem with HIV/AIDS in the island and as a result, the relationship between drug use and HIV/AIDS was an increasing problem which had to be dealt with urgently.
In an effort to highlight this problem and curtail the trend, the NCDA said it will be embarking on a public sensitisation campaign during November, through meetings in churches, schools, with youth-based organisations, national broadcasts through the media and a series of public forums in communities across the island.
