Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
THE CHECKPOINT was Cross Roads, St. Andrew. The target adolescents. They were asked whether they used ganja but most of them denied usage or were reluctant to discuss the matter. In the end, a few of them admitted to only knowing someone in their peer group who has smoked ganja.
In spite of this response, substance abuse experts indicate that more adolescents are using illegal drugs such as ganja. They believe that the general acceptance of the drug is part of the reason that it is gaining ground among young people in the 12 to 24 age group.
"It is the major illegal drug being abused by adolescents in Jamaica," said Michael Tucker, executive director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA).
The NCDA estimates that ganja is one of the primary drugs used by 35,000 addicted adolescents and also indicates that only two other addictions rank ahead of ganja tobaccoproducts and alcohol. In a 2000 Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) study, a 16-year-old male cited songs as one of the reasons addictions are so attractive.
GETTING HIGH
"We live in a culture that celebrates drug use and getting high. Listen to the music, the feelings, getting along with friends, fitting in. It's the music and the words," he told researchers in the report, entitled, 'A Portrait of Adolescent Health in the Caribbean.'
Nearly 28 per cent of the 1,014 clients who were being treated for abuse of various substances, indicated that ganja was the first drug used and was currently the drug for which they were being treated, according to NCDA surveillance data
"U.S. studies show that the earlier the use of ganja, the more likely it is to be a problem. Likewise, if you delay the start of the drug, it becomes less of a problem," said Sonita Abrahams, executive director of RISE (Reaching Individuals through Education Services), formerly Addiction Alert.
She said that there should be more public education and youth interventions, especially as the debate continues about whether to decriminalise ganja usage in Jamaica for personal use by adults.
"What kind of message will it send to young people? What a young person will hear is that now ganja is a safe drug to use. In their minds it now becomes more benign and U.S. studies show that when the perception of harm decreases, use increases," Mrs. Abrahams said.
