KINGSTON, Jamaica – A new study has found a continuing high incidence of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use by Jamaicans over the past seven years.
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton (File Photo)The 2023 National Drug Prevalence Study was carried out in conjunction with the Centre for Leadership and Governance at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, speaking at the media launch for National Drug Awareness Month, said the findings will inform a national alcohol policy, as well as the development of evidence-based prevention, treatment and harm reduction programmes.
“What we are seeing is that the overall prevalence has not increased significantly, but the intensity of use among those who already use has increased. This is what other countries have also found,” Tufton said.
The Health Minister told reporters that a National Drug Research Network, is to be established and will comprise academics and technical experts who will draft an agenda for drug research that goes beyond prevalence studies for a deeper dive into the issues.
He said initiatives geared toward the high-risk areas and groups will also be informed by these findings.
The study sought to determine the prevalence of substance use across the nation among those aged 12 to 65 years old.
Tufton said that it is noteworthy that alcohol prevalence is significantly higher in Trelawny (57.5 per cent), St. Ann (54.3 per cent) and Kingston (52.2 per cent) than the national prevalence of current alcohol use (46.2 per cent).
He said regarding marijuana use, significantly higher current use is evident in Kingston (27 per cent), Trelawny (23.2 per cent) and Clarendon (21.8 per cent) compared to other parishes and the national prevalence of current use (17.1 per cent).
For tobacco (cigarette smoking), St. Andrew (17.5 per cent), Trelawny (16.1 per cent) and St. Ann (14.5 per cent) featured highest compared to other parishes and the overall national prevalence of 11.8 per cent.
“This doesn’t mean we have no issues in other parishes. What it does is to provide us with vital information to tailor relevant prevention and treatment-related strategies to fit the different contexts,” Tufton said.
The survey found that eight in 10 Jamaicans (77.4 per cent) have consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetime, with six in 10, or 60 per cent, reporting use in the past year and five in 10 (46 per cent) in the past month.
At the same time, three in 10 or 30.4 per cent have smoked marijuana and the same for smoking cigarettes.
“Another concerning finding is the fact that among people who smoked ganja in the past year, approximately 66 per cent of them (65.9 per cent) were deemed as high risk for dependence (as measured by the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test) and this represents a 15 per cent increase from 50 per cent seven years ago (2016 survey),” Tufton said.
According to the health minister, harmful use of alcohol is most evident among the 25-35 age group while current ganja use is most prevalent among the 18-25 age group. Tufton said among those who smoke cigarettes, daily use increased from seven per cent in 2016 to 11.6 per cent at present.
