CASTRIES, SAINT LUCIA- Officials from Caricom member states are currently participating in a Regional Workshop for the Development of National Anti-Drug Strategies and Plans, in Saint Lucia.
Addressing the delegates at the opening ceremony this morning Tuesday April 28, 2009, Mrs. Chreselda St. Juste - Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Family Affairs, National Mobilization, Human Services and Family Affairs stated, "This workshop gives us an opportunity to rethink our ideological concept in relation to addressing the issue of drug abuse."
She added that the issues of drug abuse, both licit and illicit, should no longer be viewed within the prescription lens that gives the obscured vision that drug abuse is principally a health concern or a medical problem.
"The variables that fertilize the drug trade, and I reiterate both licit and illicit drugs and other substances, are many," Permanent Secretary St. Juste further stated. "These include economics, manufacturing and chemical diversion, commercialization, immigration, social recognition, power and influence. These are often times the underpinnings that significance and sustainability to the illicit drug trade."
The four-day workshop is a necessary foundation for the Government of Saint Lucia's intended National Anti-Drug Strategic Action Plan, which is expected to be implemented in this coming financial year.
The Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat is the focal point for the implementation of mechanisms for the control, prevention, and use of drugs in Saint Lucia, as mandated by the Drug (Misuse) Act of 1988.
Later this year the Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat is scheduled to hold a national meeting with key stakeholders to seek ways to harness a reconfiguration for better and closer relations between supply and demand agencies within Saint Lucia.
Additionally, according to Mrs. St. Juste, a national survey on the extent of drug use in Saint Lucia is expected to be conducted.
With all of these plans on the table, the ongoing four-day CICAD - EU supported workshop gives the participants the opportunity "to rethink our ideological concept in relation to addressing the issues of drug abuse."
This is crucial since the illegal drug trade as it relates to demand reduction, the victims of drug abuse who are in need of drug treatment, are often the residue of the supply trade.
This Mrs. St. Juste says "is a constant drain on our health services and health budget. Thus we must give consideration to the qualitative and characteristic components of the framework that will guide our intervention processes and approaches."
She also had a request for the work-shop participants. "In your deliberation, the Ministry of Health requests that in your curriculum for skills impartation towards the development of an action plan that the facilitators seek to sensitize participants of the need to combine both supply and demand approaches within the framework."
For a very long time, these two components have been treated as parallel, distinct and distant, despite the fact that they both target a common enemy, aimed at achieving a common cause.
The CICAD - EU workshop being hosted by the Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat is expected to put a stop to the isolated approaches, an issue which the participants agreed have retarded the fight against the illicit drug trade.
