– MoPH trains participants to address drug abuse amongst teens
NUMEROUS Government agencies are expected to be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to address cases of drug abuse by teenagers in Guyana, as they participate in a workshop.
The five-day workshop, which commenced on Monday at the Red Cross Headquarters in Georgetown, is being hosted by the Drug Demand Reduction Services, Ministry of Public Health.
Psychologist, Ren Gonzales, the facilitator for the workshop, stated that the training is designed to give persons working with teenagers the understanding of psychology of adolescents’ development, the dynamics surrounding substance abuse and the issues confronting youths which put them at risk of taking drugs, amongst others.
Project Director of the Drug Demand Reduction Services, Ministry of Public Health, Sylvia Cort, said that the workshop is important since it builds the capacity of persons working directly with teenagers who may be at risk for substance abuse. Such persons will obtain “the requisite skills needed to nurture and to help teens to make the right decisions.”
Cort added that there is a need for more collaborative efforts in the fight against drug abuse, which cannot be won by the efforts of a single person or agency.
“In order to confront this whole problem, we have to work as a team, no one person can do it, no one agency can do it and so that is why we are coming together as a unit to confront the problem of drug misuse. If we don’t work as a team we would be fragmented,” she highlighted.
Cort revealed that there has been an upsurge in the misuse of drugs amongst teenagers. She indicated that “molly”, which is new to the market in Guyana, is a drug of choice.
Gonzales also highlighted that the family plays an integral role in the prevention of drug abuse within teens, since it should be a teen’s biggest support group.
Among agencies that will be benefitting from the workshop are the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Protection, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Narcotics Branch of the Police Force, Salvation Army, Phoenix Recovery Programme and the National Anti-Narcotics Agency.
The workshop will also cover subject areas on the various recovery methods available for drug abusers.
The Drug Demand Reduction Services plans to continue building capacity within persons and agencies to fight drug abuse and will be targeting next the agencies within Essequibo.