Health ministry sets sights on boosting drug research agenda

Health minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, on Monday revealed plans to establish a national drug research network to be comprised of academics and technical experts. The team is tasked with developing an agenda for drug research that goes beyond prevalent use studies, delving deeper into drug abuse, and coming up with intervention measures.

This comes after a recent survey revealed high rates of persistent substance abuse, particularly of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco over the past seven years.

Nearly 5,000 people islandwide participated in the 2023 National Drug Prevalence Survey, which was conducted through interviews over an eight-month period.

It looked at lifetime prevalence (if a person has ever used a substance), use in the previous year, and current use patterns, among other aspects of substance use.

Tufton, who presented the findings of the survey at a press launch held at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew, said the purpose of the research was to create a starting point for the collection of data on substance abuse that would ideally, be used to help guide public health, policy, specific programmes, and interventions.

FINDINGS

According to Uki Atkinson, senior director of research at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), factors that contribute to drug use were considered, including socio-demographic profiles, risk perception, substance access, and attitudes towards different policies. In addition, comparisons with the 2016 Drug Prevalence Survey were made between gender, parish, high-risk locations, usage, and treatment.

According to the study, approximately 16 per cent of the population had troubling alcohol use patterns, which is consistent with findings from the 2016 survey, when the alcohol use identification test was used.

The most common substance among those age 25 to 35 years was found to be alcohol.

Driving under the influence of alcohol has been more common since 2016, according to Tufton, rising from 14.4 per cent to 17.5 per cent of Jamaicans.

He continued that, down from the previously reported 14 per cent in the 2016 survey, only 10 per cent of drivers had been found to have driven while under the influence of other drugs, including cannabis.

The cohort of people age 18 to 25 years was found to use cannabis, commonly known as marijuana or ganja more frequently than other age groups.

Referred to as “another concerning finding,” Tufton stated that roughly 66 per cent of those who had smoked ganja in the previous year were considered to be at high risk for dependence based on the results of the cannabis abuse screening test.

This, he continued, is a rise of 15 per cent from the 50 per cent recorded in the 2016 survey.

Additionally, the percentage of persons who smoke cigarettes has increased from 7.6 per cent recorded in 2016 to 11.6 per cent in 2023.

According to Tufton, the parishes of Clarendon, St James, Kingston, and St Andrew were found to have the greatest need for specialised treatment services, based on the concerning statistics.

For Trelawny, Westmoreland, Manchester, Clarendon, Kingston, and St Andrew, however, a brief intervention was required.

“We have to drill down a bit more on this data to determine how we tailor interventions to address the challenges, but this gives us the baseline from which we can now develop a roadmap to move the process further,” he said.

PUBLIC EDUCATION NEEDED

Speaking on a portion of the study that dealt with driving while under the influence of alcohol and other substances, Tufton pointed out that men predominated in this area.

According to him, roughly 18 per cent of those surveyed have driven while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs in the last year, with a much higher percentage of men (23.9 per cent) than women (5.2 per cent).

About one in three respondents within the 25 to 34 age range claimed to have driven while intoxicated, making this the most common activity among this demographic.

“I guess we could conclude that we see the manifestations of that, if not in whole, partly so, on some of the carnage and the unfortunate incidents on our roads. Again, this will need further drilling down and hopefully, will influence the level of intervention or the type of intervention,” Tufton said.

Further, 10 per cent of respondents said they had driven while under the influence of illegal drugs, with 15 per cent being men and 1.3 per cent women.

“Findings on the perception of risk of using substance on a frequent basis reveal that although Jamaicans understand the level of risk of using in this manner, knowledge alone does not change behaviour. So, we are accepting that public education is needed but that may be a requirement but is not sufficient,” the health minister said.

He continued that in 2016, 30 per cent of the population was unaware of the degree of harm from the practice of vaping (use a handheld device, often battery-powered to breathe in a mist that contains nicotine).

This, he said, has decreased to 20 per cent, indicating that the efforts of the NCDA and its partners through public education initiatives are likely responsible for this shift, which he described as “a small win.”

However, he noted that it was “very concerning” that there was a low-risk perception surrounding vaping.

“There’s a view that if you take the natural smoke as would be the case when you compare vaping to traditional tobacco, then somehow, you’re engaged in a healthier practice, and we want to disabuse people’s minds of that. In fact, there may be evidence in some instances that suggests that it is more dangerous because of the chemical concoctions that are placed in these devices and that needs to get across the population,” Tufton said.

EASE OF ACCESS

The drawback is that the access to illegal drugs, for example marijuana was widespread; for instance, nearly 70 per cent of the population said it was easy to obtain.

According to reports, ten per cent of adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17 had used edibles. Males in the 35 to 44 years age range and females in the 25 to 34 years age group reported the highest levels of use.

“The use of edibles, cannabis-infused foods have increased by seven per cent from 6.6 per cent in 2016 and to 13 per cent in 2023. This, we are not surprised at as the popularity of edibles based on our anecdotal information, persons turning up at hospitals and so on, is evident among youth and young adults. [It is] popular in parties and stage shows and easily accessible in a variety of places islandwide and we’re seeing evidence of that in terms of increase, willingness to try and certainly to consume,” he said.

Tufton noted that approximately 60, 000 of three per cent of Jamaicans aged 12 to 65 years were in need of drug treatment and specialised services to reduce or stop using psychoactive substances.

November is National Drug Awareness month; this year’s theme is ‘Know the Facts: Now let’s Act.’

The survey was conducted by the NCDA, a department within the Health Ministry who partnered with The University of the West Indies, Mona’s Centre for Leadership and Governance (CLG) and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS). Support was further given by the National Health Fund (NHF).