OF the 890 calls Rise Life Management Services – one the island’s drug treatment facilities – received for help in 2008, the majority came from people looking to beat their marijuana addiction.

Furthermore, Sonita Abrahams, Rise Life’s executive director, said the percentage of calls for problems associated with marijuana over the past four years is also on the rise, jumping from 39 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent in 2008.

“People say marijuana is harmless, but if you talk to any doctor who works in mental institutions, they will tell you that a large percentage of the people come in with marijuana induced psychosis,” Abrahams said.

The calls come in to RISE’s ‘Telephone Lifeline’ which is equipped with trained counsellors who advise the callers and make the necessary referrals.

When it comes to the reason the calls have increased, Everton Evlyn, a lifeline counsellor told the Observer that he has seen an increase in the number of teenagers who use and misuse marijuana.

“We have noticed a big increase in the number of teenagers using ganja and it could be from the mental health issues associated with marijuana misuse [why more teens are calling for help],” he said.

“Ganja is also associated with gangs and we have seen that the increase [in calls to the life line] in predominantly from high school students. A big reason is the culture in Jamaica’s inner city communities where ganja is accepted by adults and is seen as an everyday thing. For them ganja is a wisdom drug that helps them to be more enlightened. Some of them have low self-esteem and so they have to do this to be accepted by their peer group.”

Information from RISE shows that the short-term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, loss of co-ordination, increased heart rate and anxiety.

And while the 10-19 age group has the third highest number of calls, RISE’s data shows that over the past two years, however, this group has increased to 26 per cent, just one percentage point behind the 36-50 age group which has the second highest number of calls. At the top of the list, with the highest number of calls, is the 20-35 age group with percentages ranging from 48 per cent in 2005, 46 per cent in 2006, 40 per cent in 2007 and 44 per cent in 2008.

Turning to male/female ratio, the data showed that 85 per cent of callers were male, and 15 per cent females.

Meantime, alcohol comes in second on the list of addictions which persons seek help for, ranging from between 22 and 25 per cent of the calls over the past four years. Abrahams said the calls have remained fairly stable over the four-year period. Crack cocaine, which is also fairly stable, is next on the list with between 12 and 14 per cent of the calls, followed by gambling, which ranges from eight to 14 per cent and tobacco slowly trending down from eight to six per cent over the same period.