Tucker

Jamaica's cultural acceptance of marijuana and alcohol is severely hampering the work of anti-drug lobbies, an activist told The Gleaner yesterday.

Michael Tucker, executive director of the National Council on Drug Abuse, said the drug culture in some communities was so entrenched that the sale of drugs was legitimised because it funded schooling children and buying food, which had caused many residents to turn a blind eye.

"They don't realise that the sale of this same drug is causing adverse psychological and physical problems in other individuals," he told The Gleaner.

Tucker, however, in his address, commended the Church for its role in assisting the NCDA in promoting healthy and drug-free living through its counselling services and community programmes.

Clinic networks

Tucker said the drug lobby had been working with church groups to improve and strengthen its impact in several communities through its clinic networks. Some 10 church groups have since established clinics where they provide counselling services to youths and broken families.

Health Minister Ruddy Spencer, in a speech read by Tucker, said despite the agency's many successes, Jamaica was still far from achieving drug-free status.

He said drug abuse has remained a public-health challenge which calls for the collaborative support of communities, non-governmental organisations, families and the country as a whole before it can be fully eradicated.

The health minister, however, said the achievements of prevention and treatment programmes and awareness strategies over the years have proven that the NCDA's work was not in vain. "It also encourages us to build on these advances," the statement read.

Maverley Gospel Hall provides counselling services three days a week (Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays) free of cost.

Persons may call 925-4561 to make an appointment.

The National Council on Drug Abuse may be contacted at 926-9002-4. Email

ncda@cwjamaica.com or log on to www.ncda.org.jm.