Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 06, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
Anyone who regularly reads the local newspapers or listen to the news would have noticed that hardly a day goes by in Guyana without someone appearing in court on a drug-related charge. The offences would range from having or smoking marijuana, possession of a small amount of crack cocaine or having crack pipes or other apparatus used to smoke the white powdery stuff, to having large quantities of illegal drugs with the intent to sell.
And hardly a week would pass by without one or two drug mules being apprehended at the airport as they are about to leave the country with either a sizeable quantity of marijuana or cocaine concealed in suitcases, inside their stomachs or, in the case of some women, tucked away inside their private parts.
Hardly a week or two goes by without the police or Coast Guard arresting persons with large quantities of marijuana or cocaine either at sea or on land. But for every one caught, it is reasonable to assume that that many others may have succeeded in slipping illegal drugs through the airport or by boats to neighbouring countries.
Numerous attempts to smuggle illegal drugs out of the country either by land or by sea have placed Guyana under relentless assault on almost every front by a drug problem that seems to be getting worse, even though many have been caught over the years.
Despite the best efforts, the authorities, be losing the battle against the illegal drug trade. The time has come for the government to do a comprehensive review of its existing strategy to enhance the effectiveness of the nation’s anti-drug efforts.
Those at the top of the drug trade are not consumers but they profit the most. Then there are the drug lords who oversee the distribution and sale of drugs to the people at the community level.
In Guyana as in most countries, many young men and women are addicted to drugs. Their lives are so destroyed that in many instances because of their addiction, some will lie, steal or engage in other antisocial behaviours such as selling their bodies to support their habits.
Some are mentally unsound and can be seen walking the streets. They rummage through garbage bins looking for food or begging passers-by for money to purchase drugs. It is the most painful and pitiful sight to see mostly young men and women in such awful condition. However, when all is said and done, it was their choice which produced such dreadful consequences.
Youths are the victims of the rising drug trade in Guyana, which has become burdensome on the public at a time when the country’s resources are very scarce to help them. Guyana’s anti-drug efforts continue to focus primarily on cutting off the supply, but the government ought to concentrate more on the demand side. Sales for drugs only exist because of demand and the appetite for getting high. If there is no demand, there would be no traffickers trying to get drugs in and out of the country, knowing quite well that they could end up in prison.
Guyana may have already lost an entire generation to the drug trade, but there is an opportunity for the government and society to save the next generations through interventions at an early age. Efforts must be made to demonstrate and convince children that using drugs is destructive and should be avoided at all costs.
However, the task cannot be left to the Government alone. Everyone including the family and all stakeholders must play a part to end the drug trade and save the next generation.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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