Researched work carried out by the National Drug Prevalence Study in conjunction with the Centre for Leadership and Governance at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Jamaica and the  Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) found that Jamaicans’ absorption of alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco since the last seven years is still in high usage.
The study, released at the Media launch of National Drug Awareness Month by Jamaica’s Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton, said the finding will inform a national alcohol policy and the development of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.
“What we are seeing is that the overall prevalence has not increased significantly, but the intensity of usage among those who already use has increased; this is also what other countries have also found,” Tufton said.
Minister Tufton also noted that a National Drug Research Network will be established. It will comprise academic and technical experts who will draft an agenda for drug research that goes beyond prevalence studies and takes a deeper dive into the issues.
Aspects of these results outlined recommendations, including that initiatives be taken to inform the high-risk areas or communities and the related groups in the findings.
The study determines the prevalence of substance use across the nation among aged 12 to 65 years old, the Health Minister declared.
The usage of alcohol is significantly higher in the parish of Trelawny (57.5 %), St. Ann (54.3 %), and Kingston (52.2 %) when compared to the national prevalence of current alcohol use at (46.2 %}
Regarding the usage of cannabis, Minister Tufton explained that usage is significantly higher. The current use is higher in Kingston (27 %), Trelawny (23.2 %), and Clarendon (21.8 %} compared to other parishes and the national prevalence of current use (17.1 %}.
For usage of tobacco (cigarette smoking), St. Andrew (17.5 %}, Trelawny (16.1 %}, and St. Ann (14.5 %) featured the highest compared to other parishes and overall the national prevalence of (11.8 %).
The minister noted that these results do not prove that other parishes do not have issues. “What it does is to provide us with vital information to tailor relevant prevention and treatment-related strategies to fit the different contexts, Tufton noted. The Health and Wellness Minister also expressed that “another concern in the findings is the fact that among people who smoked ganja in the past year, approximately 66 % of them (65.9) were deemed as high risk for dependence  (as measured by the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test) and this represents a 15 % increase from 50 %  seven years ago (2016 survey),” Tufton explained.
In continuing to discuss the harmful use of alcohol, the Health and Wellness Minister said the use of alcohol is most evident among the 25-35 age group while current Ganga use is most prevalent among ages 18-25; the minister added,  however, that among those who smoke cigarette, daily usage increased from seven % in 2016 to (11.6 %).