EULALEE THOMPSONCHEAP AND readily available products around the house such as glues, adhesives, typewriter correcting fluids and thinners are some of the substances which adolescents are using to get a "high". The National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) also lists in its 1994 National Survey other volatile substances such as butane gas, lighter fuel, fire extinguishers and other aerosols as commonly abused.
Ellen Campbell-Grizzle, the NCDA's director of information and research indicates that although the abuse of illicit drugs such as ganja and cocaine grabs a lot of the public's attention, there are some Jamaicans who are also abusing illicit drugs such as the inhalants mentioned before, prescribed and non-prescribed tranquillisers and painkillers, some of them available over-the-counter (such as aspirin, codeine).
The NCDA's survey notes that a significant proportion of adults deal with life chemically. In effect, for a variety of reasons they may misuse or abuse legal tranquillisers and sedatives prescribed by their physicians. Psychoactive substance provoke dramatic changes in behaviour as a result of brain function disruption.
Local research by Dr. Ken-Garfield Douglas indicates that inhalants, though often overlooked in discussions of adolescent substance abuse, are easily accessible to teens and are used particularly by younger female adolescents. He said that the continued high prevalence of the use of inhalants indicates that the country is faced with a major but little understood problem.
Dr. Douglas' research indicates that 15.8 per cent of students had used inhalants and 9.6 per cent of them had used the substances in the last month. These were 1997 data but were very similar to the 1987 figures. These figures compare to US data "where 20.3 per cent of students report that they sniffed glue, breathed the contents of aerosol spray cans or inhaled any paint sprays to get a high."
Mrs. Campbell-Grizzle said that the data indicates that a significant proportion of the abusers of prescribed tranquillisers are elderly people who have difficulty falling asleep and other health complaints. Some of these clients receive their prescriptions from several different physicians and fill them at the various pharmacies so that it might be difficult for a particular physician or pharmacist to spot the abuse. However, Mrs. Campbell-Grizzle said that through the network of pharmacies, who have been sensitised to the issue, these possible abusers are spotted and discreetly pointed in the direction of medical help.
People addicted to tranquillisers, she said, cannot be withdrawn immediately from the drugs. They have to go through a process of detoxification where the doctor assists the patient in a weaning process.
The dose is titrated downwards, she said, over a period of time.
Painkillers such as codeine, she indicated is a form of morphine, from the heroine family and is found in some cough and cold medicines but local laws restrict the amount that can be used in medicine and so this substance might not be freely sold.
