International Day against Drug Abuse and illicit trafficking was observed on Friday under the theme “Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises.”
While delivering remarks at a ceremony to mark the day, Deputy Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) Rayon Samuels posited that the use of synthetic drugs in school “is a growing problem.”
He revealed that there has been an increase in students using these kinds of drugs. In recent months, there have been cases where drugs such as marijuana are being repackaged to attract younger buyers.
“There is a lot of importation of synthetic drugs, and this is definitely a growing problem, especially in schools,” he added.
Synthetic drugs aim to mimic the effects of existing illicit drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy.
He noted that a collaborative effort would be needed to target this issue among the most vulnerable. The Ministry of Education has already partnered with several stakeholders to counsel students on this matter.
Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Health, PAHO, and WHO have pledged their support to introduce and continue introducing programmes to educate young persons that using and abusing drugs is not the best choice.
Several new programmes they revealed will come on board and aims to provide psychological support to these children.
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