Sajoune Rose, Gleaner Writer

Thrill-seeking girls are increasingly being lured by the hedonistic cocktail of drugs and sex, a study by the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) has revealed.

"A new sense of freedom is one reason for the increase," says Oneil Smith, manager for the eastern region of the NCDA.

"While girls are still expected to come home early and do the house chores, they are now finding their independence and a part of their independence is using drugs and having lots of sex," he said. He went on to add that the problem stems from the fact that both sexes are raised differently.

According to the 2006 NCDA school survey, more males continue to use drugs, but the margin between both sexes is decreasing.

However, there are plans to target them to curb the increase.

Gender-sensitive

"We have to pitch our programmes to become gender-sensitive to deal specifically with females," said Sisyln Malcolm, director of field services at the NCDA, at the closing ceremony for Bike Ride Against Drug Abuse (BRADA) yesterday.

But according to Dianne Williams, organiser of BRADA, the problem starts at the policy and school levels.

"Our teachers are not paid well, so we are not seeing the best results out of them," she said. "Also, I don't see a lot of service clubs like Girl Guides in schools. That was my foundation. Through these service clubs, we can have mentorship, because we need to mentor our girls more and create a safety net for them."

Williams argued that girls' desire for affirmation of their self-worth from boys was one factor driving many of them into drug abuse.

"In Jamaica, there are very few rehabilitation centres while there are many young people abusing drugs," the BRADA organiser said.

"It is for this reason that we have the idea of a bike ride to empower the NCDA by raising funds through corporate sponsor-ship to maintain and improve the work of the NCDA.

"Through these funds, they'll be able to develop more meaningful education pro-grammes," Williams said.

The NCDA's theme for this year's activities is 'Smoke-free, Healthy and Physically Fit'.