Ganja
RICHMOND, St. Mary--Parish coordinator for the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Erica Barnett-Haughton has warned that pushers of illicit drugs are offering discounted prices to students in St. Mary in an effort to convert them into repeat clients.
“The areas that are selling the contraband are selling it cheaper to children. You go to the weed man and he takes off the big people’s price, so it allows the children to come back again,” she said.
Barnett-Haughton was speaking during last Thursday’s town hall meeting for the parish’s Richmond Division. Hosted by the St. Mary Municipal Corporation, it was held at Richmond Community Centre.
Barnett-Haughton expressed concern about the impact drug abuse may have on children, especially those with pre-existing problems.
“This situation poses a severe risk to children as many of them have mental challenges that are induced by smoking such substances,” she said.
She urged parents of students with a drug problem to allow them to receive the necessary treatment. She also pointed to a need for Richmond residents to come together to address the issue.
“Let us go back to where the community raised our children, or they are lost,” Barnett-Haughton appealed.
The NCDA is already working with St. Mary Technical High School and other stakeholders on a “No smoking, No gambling” campaign, an initiative which Barnett-Haughton described as timely as there is a severe drug problem in Richmond and the parish at large. According to her, vendors are selling marijuana mixed with other substances, in venues such as the Port Maria and Highgate markets.
While the issue of discounted prices for students is just now being raised in St. Mary, drug use among students is neither new nor unique to the parish. According to the NCDA’s National Secondary School’s Survey 2013, almost 31 per cent of the 3,365 students from 11 parishes surveyed said drugs were available at their school; a little over half of them said they thought drugs were available near school. Of those surveyed, 43.2 per cent said marijuana was the easiest drug to access. ~Jamaica Observer~
