Pandemic influencing increased drug use among youth

The National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) is reporting that based on focus group discussions with teens, there is the perception that youth drug use is on the rise due to COVID-19.

Michael Tucker, executive director of the NCDA, told

THE WEEKEND STAR that tobacco, ganja and alcohol, and increasingly vaping and ganja edibles are being used by youth to help them cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have not had the opportunity to conduct national studies that are representative of the youth population since COVID, so we cannot definitively say that there have been increases in use,” he said. “But anecdotally, from focus group discussions held among fifth and sixth formers in March 2021 across five parishes, mainly given that they are using substances to cope with the difficulties they are facing which include social isolation, difficulties with virtual learning, chaotic home environment and lack of parental support and supervision,” Tucker explained.

Tucker also noted that the participation at the Drug Treatment Court, which assists persons with rehabilitation, has declined since the pandemic. The Court was started in 2001, operating on the premise that persons who committed petty crimes often did so because they were trying to support their drug habits.

Currently, there are 39 persons enrolled in the programme but Tucker related that since the Dangerous Drugs Act was amended and cannabis was decriminalised, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of participants has been on a steady decline. He said that 31.7 per cent of the participants graduated from the programme in 2020.

“For the period 2019 to 2020, there were 145 participants in the programme. The drug of impact reported by the current participants are 74 per cent for cannabis, 18 per cent for crack/cocaine and eight per cent for alcohol,” he said.

Prior to COVID-19, the NCDA used multilevel prevention programmes in schools, communities, workplaces and homes, but that approach was significantly affected, as the pandemic forced limited interaction. However, Tucker assured that the council remains committed to reducing drug use and abuse among the nation’s youth by providing screening, intervention and referrals to specialised drug treatment.