Jamaica is advancing its efforts to develop an early warning system that identifies emerging drugs that threaten public health.
The development of an early warning system in Jamaica is the latest action of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), the substance use arm of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, as it continues to assess and respond to the prevalence and pattern of drugs in Jamaica.
The agency is convening a three-day national workshop for an early warning system on drugs in a bid to strengthen collaboration and build capacity among stakeholders, including from the areas of public health, security, law enforcement and specialised drug treatment facilities.
An early warning system on drugs is a multidisciplinary inter-agency network that generates and exchanges information among key actors in the substance use field. It is responsible for the early detection of emerging drug phenomena; identifies new drug-use patterns and facilitates assessment of the risks posed by such drugs; and provides evidence to guide appropriate responses.
“I endorse the early warning system. You have the support at the level of policy and the Ministry. Where we need to advance to make implementation a reality, we will play our part,” said Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, speaking at the opening ceremony of the national workshop on Wednesday morning.
The early warning system is a best practice for data collection on drugs and the development of rapid responses.
“The landscape of substance use is rapidly changing across the world. While the traditional substances such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis (ganja) and to a lesser extent cocaine have been used in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean for several decades, there has been the emergence of other drugs with which we are less familiar,” the Minister said.
“As we know, MDMA (molly/ecstasy) is growing in popularity, psylocibin mushrooms and other new psychoactive substances are accessible in Jamaica,” the Minister continued.
New psychoactive substances refer to substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat.
“To the extent that we can observe emerging trends, then it gives you a basis on which you can partner to build a solution. I look forward to this system to target the vulnerable,” Dr. Tufton added.
OAS/CICAD Support
The national forum on early warning systems is being executed as a partnership between the Organisation of American States/Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD) and its Caribbean member states to counter the growing threat of new psychoactive substances.
“It is geared towards detection, assessment and response,” says Dr. Ken-Garfield Douglas, Consultant with the Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID), Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD).
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the rapid emergence and expansion of new psychoactive substances on the global drug market poses a significant risk to public health and a challenge to drug policy. With little known about the adverse health effects and social harms of new and emerging drugs, prevention and treatment programmes are likely to experience significant challenges.
“The early warning system documents chemical consumption. This is part of characterising the risk to determine if this is a public health threat,” Dr. Douglas continued as he stressed the need for support from scientific information, especially chemical analysis.
The early warning system, explained Uki Atkinson, Research Analyst at the NCDA, “is to deliver early warnings on the changes that are occurring as they are happening.”
Its goal is to provide rapid information that can result in immediate responses to reduce risk to public health. Atkinson stressed the need for structured coordination, corporation, and information sharing.
Preparations for an early warning system commenced in 2019. Among the next steps to arise from the national workshop is the identification and engagement of focal points for capacity building; the development of protocols and procedures for the early warning system, and continued collaboration among stakeholders.