Substance abuse is often associated with crime and wrongdoing. But the Ministry of National Security has revealed that many youngsters claim that the same substances steer them away from danger.

Orville Simmons, senior case management coordinator in the national security ministry said the risk factors have been thoroughly expressed, but there is a flip side.

“On the other hand, there are youngsters who have indicated to us, the older ones, ‘Sir, a this make me hold my meds enuh.’ He’s talking about his spliff,” Simmons told the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, part of a panel of health and security experts sharing views in recognition of Drug Awareness Month.

“And he says that is what causes him to be calm and not become violent. That is something you hear from a lot of young men. They say ganja helps them to hold a meds, keep quiet, don’t get stressed, and don’t get violent,” Simmons continued.

Police have been proactively engaging schools as part of the violence interruption strategy to prevent violent encounters among students.

Earlier this year officers from the St Catherine North Police Division, along with members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), seized multiple weapons and illegal items from students at a high school within the division.

Since the resumption of face-to-face classes in January, there have been several violent incidents at schools across the island in which students have ended up becoming fatalities.

Simmons told the Sunday Observer that there has been no data to suggest that students who carry weapons to school are drug users.

“As for that specific relationship between weapons in school and the users of substances, I do not think that there is any empirical evidence relating both,” he said.

However, Michael Tucker, executive director at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), warned that, generally, crime and violence is an element of drug use.

“All of us, each and every day we are faced with the crime and violence, and there is the strong link between sale of drugs and the drug trade and gun for drug trade and the problems that occur not only with the large suppliers of drugs but the people who actually use the drugs and the ones that fuel the supply. They get guns into the island [and] that is really and truly destroying this country that we love,” he said.

Richard Troupe, acting director of the Ministry and Education’s Safety and Security in Schools Unit, agreed with Simmons. He told the Sunday Observer that he thinks the link is more likely to result in a proliferation of weapons in schools and the level of violence in the general society today.

“Many of our children are exposed to violence within their homes and their communities. We are seeing the data that is reflecting children being fearful as they journey to and from school, especially after the pandemic, where there is now this major focus on trying to take away the technological devices from children and adults,” he said.

Troupe added that significant progress was made in reducing the number of weapons found in schools pre-COVID-19, but said that progress is now being challenged.

“We are seeing more of that happening. We know that since children have returned to school there is this reliance on weapons being taken to school. That is why our honourable minister on October 19 would’ve launched the End Violence in Schools Campaign to address the issue of violence in schools. That is why within this year-long campaign we had identified and aligned critical activities during the year to really make an impact,” he said.

Uki Atkinson, research analyst at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), related that based on focus group discussions as well as interviews with school guidance counsellors it is understood that there are parents who sometimes encourage their children to take weapons to school to protect themselves.

“…Because there were increases in abductions and all of these things that are happening that make our children feel unsafe,” she told the Sunday Observer.

In March some parents admitted to the Sunday Observer that they encourage their children to take “weapons” to school, saying the intention isn’t for them to be used at school or against other children but as safety tools if the need arises when their young ones leave school and are heading home.

However, officials had warned that the practice shouldn’t be fostered as if the children are caught, they will be found to be in breach of the Offensive Weapons (Prohibition) Act.