With the abuse of legal synthetic drugs fast becoming a global epidemic, the laws governing the dispensing for pharmaceutical use must be upgraded in line with the current trend, the head of the Barbados Drug Service (BDS) Maryam Hinds has revealed.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a workshop on synthetic drugs conducted by the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA), Hinds explained that several of the pharmaceutical ingredients for these drugs are too easily accessible in Barbados. She made it clear that measures must be taken to tighten up the loopholes.
“There is definitely a need for increased regulation, and we have been working with the NCSA to address this. We do have legislation, but our legislation is not up-to-date and a lot of these new substances are not yet covered in the laws. Through the NCSA we have been seeing how we can update the regulation so that we are not left behind,” said Hinds, who revealed that recommendations for the required changes have already been submitted to Cabinet.
Maryam Hinds
“We have done our work at the lower level, so it has now gone up to the level of the powers that be to make the decision about when the time is right to get the legislation in place,” she explained.
Also weighing in on the issue was Manager of the NCSA Betty Hunte who said that while her organisation was just beginning the process of assessing the prevalence of the drugs as well as establishing early warning systems, they are cognizant that Barbados was not insulated from global trends.
“This is a global phenomenon and Barbados, a mainly tourist destination, cannot close its eyes to what is happening regionally and internationally. I think it is important that we try to get ahead of any emerging challenges that we may be seeing,” explained Hunte.
She further pointed out, “When we look at the statistics for Canada and what it is doing for life expectancy, Barbados as a small island, can ill-afford these challenges and would not be able to respond as readily. So we are taking some lessons from the jurisdictions that have experienced these things already.”
High Commissioner of Canada to Barbados and OECS Marie Legault backed up Hunte’s position, urging the Barbadian Government to get in front of the problem before it is too late.
“It is a growing problem in Canada and these drugs are responsible for 1300 deaths in the last two years. This is a huge public health crisis for us and one which we are taking very seriously. This is a problem that has no borders and it is a threat that impacts globally.
Betty Hunte
“That is why we are partnering with the Government of Barbados to ensure that we have a response to this threat. The biggest threat is to the young people and we need to focus the attention on them through awareness campaigns, so that they can fully understand the consequences and impact,” she stressed. colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb
