Campaigns against substance abuse must have mechanism to help abusers – Tufton

CAMPAIGNS AGAINST substance abuse must have mechanisms to help the abusers, and harsh penalties for those promoting it, says Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton.

Speaking at a National Workshop on Early Warning Systems on Drugs on Wednesday at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston, the minister said part of the “solution must be helping persons to develop coping mechanisms around the temptation”.

“If we accept that the temptations are always going to be there, we have to pay attention, as a target group, to those who promote quick fixes, and protect the vulnerable. But we have to be a lot harsher on those who are purveyors of these emerging substances,” Dr Tufton emphasised.

He said if the campaigns do not have that element to them, things will become pervasive, and although it is difficult to “stamp out everyone and everything, to the extent that you can, we have to do more around those perpetrators, especially those who focus on the vulnerable.”

The workshop brought together stakeholders from the ministries of Health and Wellness, National Security, and Justice, and specialised drug treatment facilities to set strategies for the ongoing campaign against substance abuse.

Spearheaded by the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), the two-day event is being executed as a partnership between the Organization of American States/Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission and its Caribbean member States to develop early warning systems to combat the growing threat of New psychoactive substances.

As an agency of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the NCDA has a vision to provide quality, reliable information to policymakers, international partners and the general public about substance use and abuse in Jamaica, its nature, the extent, prevention, treatment, control and underlying problems that negatively impact nation building.