NDC begins 8th drug student survey
(CNS): The National Drug Council is about to begin its eighth student survey to establish the current level of drug and alcohol use among local teenagers. According to the last survey conducted in 2014 and published last year, more than half of all students in the Cayman Islands said they had never used drugs but six out ten said they had drunk alcohol at some point in their lives. More than 25% of students reported drinking booze around the time the research was conducted and half of those reported binge drinking.
Although there is a perception that many young people are misusing drugs regularly, only 14% of students said they were smoking ganja and just a handful of teens admitted to using cocaine.
Alcohol remains the main issue for teens. The NDC said some students in the last survey reported having their first drink at the age of 12 and 80% of students in Year 12 have started drinking. Of particular concern was the number of students in 2014 who admitted binge drinking at least once around the time of the survey. The NDC said 352 students in Years 7 to 12 binged on booze during the two weeks before the survey began.
The NDC is now looking for volunteers to help it conduct the 2016 study. The goal is to assess the behaviours, attitudes and values of high school students towards drugs and alcohol.
“Community involvement is essential in the administration of this survey and we are in need of fieldwork assistants,” officials from the NDC said.
Around 80 fieldwork assistants are needed to collect the data. Training will be provided for all volunteers. Individuals interested will be required to volunteer approximately 1½ hours between 29 February and 17 March.
Contact the NDC at info@ndc.ky or call 949-9000 for dates and times of training sessions.
Category: Health
The West Bay booze issues will be ok when the new therapy centre opens next to Fosters in March.
CNS can you please put more emphasis on this subject of the NDC doing 8 surveys on the problem of drugs and alcohol destroying the life of young kids of the Islands, I really think that NDC needs to be really shamed about their 8th survey on such a serious problem.
What have you been smoking? Can I try some?
I think that the NDC has enough proof to know that there’s a big problem with drugs and alcohol in the Islands with the kids . The NDC sounds like the police when a crime happen, they ask the public for help to solve the cases. I know that it can be useful sometimes, but they use it all the time .
NDC why don’t you start with a prevention and cure program and work a long with the police department to combat the drugs and alcohol abuse within the young kids . It makes no sense to further investigate the problem when you know what the problem is. We should not leave this problem unsolved because it is the feature of the Islands next-generation.
Although there is a perception that many young people are misusing drugs, the reality is that most of them are using them properly and having a great time. Don’t buy into the propaganda of the failed war on drugs. The only winners in that war are the criminals making the profits.
How do you use illegal drugs “properly”?
Very easily. It really can be a lot of fun.