DRUG USE BY YOUTHS

DISTRICT "A" JUVENILE COURT MAGISTRATE Faith Marshall-Harris has
thrown into the public domain issues linked to illegal drug use and
the behaviour of many of our youths.

She has zeroed in on specific cases which many before her have been
reluctant to pinpoint where it was known problems existed.

For example, it will be interesting to see if the thinking of some
who have been strident about those matters will now be revised.

One observation made by Marshall-Harris that stands out is that it
was discovered that some vendors were selling drugs to children on
school compounds.

Since this development, attempts at some schools to have a better
idea of what vendors have been offering students have come in for
sharp and noisy criticism by voices claiming to speak for "the poor
man making a living".

Marshall-Harris has used evidence from cases brought before the
juvenile court and the findings of social workers from a number of
Government departments to paint a picture of how drug use has been
creating problems among our youths, whether this is reflected in
their behaviour in the home, at school or in public.

She was not only prepared to pinpoint the problems but went on to
suggest that we have to do something to help the young people
involved. This was necessary particularly in cases where a number of
these youths came from homes where they were encouraged to believe
that there was nothing wrong in using marijuana.

In her words: "We are observing that a lot of these children are up
against it because almost from birth, aunt, uncle and parents are all
using drugs.

"The biggest trend is the heavy use of marijuana . . . among
children. A proportion starts at primary school but also a
significant proportion starts as they enter secondary school . . .".

Some of these children eventually end up in court and although it may
not be for a drug offence it is usually one that is drug related.

It does not take long to anticipate that such students will also
create problems at the schools they attend, a situation compounded by
the fact that many of them have difficulty coping with the school
curriculum, and still others being hardly able to read. Add to this
research that shows marijuana use does damage brain cells.

A number of them end up stealing from fellow students, from their
parents and from siblings. Gradually these same young people will
find themselves stealing from a wider public.

Unfortunately, it is only then that most in the society sit up and take notice.

What Marshall-Harris also drew to public attention is that a number
of girls are getting involved with young men who are handling drug
money. In her words: "The drug lords have a lot of money and they get
these girls involved. It's become very fashionable among the girls 14
to 15 years old to have a drug lord boyfriend.

"So they go and sometimes disappear for months. Two, three months you
can't find them and they are holed up somewhere with one of these
drug lords who are usually in their mid-to late 20s.

The magistrate added: "I am particularly afraid for these girls, actually."

The real test is if the rest of the society has the same fears about
what has been developing.

It is no comfort to note that Jamaica has been going through similar
fears in a more exaggerated and extraordinary way. There the drug
dons (lords) see themselves as being so influential and powerful that
it has been reported they are bold enough to demand that mothers send
their teenaged daughters to them "to be initiated".

Our decision-makers have a choice. They can decide to act firmly with
those who encourage the harmful aberrations caused by drug use, while
offering counselling and other help to those already snared, or just
be prepared to act when they end up in our courts on the road to
becoming hardened criminals or "paros".

Robert Best is a former managing editor of the Barbados Advocate.