SENIOR citizens and the disabled are getting caught up in the drug craze which has been manifesting itself across the island, the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) has revealed.

According to the council’s research analyst, Uki Atkinson, the entity is now being called on to build capacity among different groups which it did not necessarily focus on before.

“So, for instance people with disabilities, we recently got a request from the Abilities Foundation to focus on their population because they are also seeing an increase in the use of substances among their clients,” Atkinson told editors and reporters during the weekly Monday Exchange forum of the Jamaica Observer at its St Andrew offices.

“We got [a request] from the National Council for Senior citizens as well so we recognise that this is not just a youth issue, it is a thing among different groups in our society so there needs to be that broad-based approach to meet the needs,” she said.

The NCDA official who was part of a panel of experts addressing the forum in recognition of Drug Awareness Month, emphasised that the interventions requested for the disabled community are for children and adults as well, based on the increased use being reported in that segment of the population.

“Vaping and all those things are increasing among them. They are part of the same society we are part of,” Atkinson said.

On Monday, executive director of the NCDA Michael Tucker said the cohort was more or less an easy target given that, “they have significant risk factors — low self-esteem and other issues — that they struggle with, communication and (lack of) opportunities and emotional issues.”

Director of the Safety and Security in Schools Unit in the Education Ministry Richard Troupe further described the situation as a “crisis” which no one entity can fix.

“We have a society that will sell alcoholic beverages to students, that will sell the vaping [device] to students without even asking any question. And you don’t even have to say, ‘How old are you?’ because we are talking about students in uniform, we are talking about students that are so young — and that’s part of the problem,” Troupe said.

“If it is that children have such ease to access those substances then that is part of the problem — and that must be a critical stakeholder group that is targeted because these are sometimes well-established entities. We are not talking about vendors on the roads; it is going to take a national conversation and holding each other accountable to where we have contributed to this problem and the things we will have to do if we are serious about change,” he expressed.

“There is an urgency. There are so many signals which say that our society is in crisis, and it is going to take a collective effort to remedy,” he added.

The NCDA is responsible for formulating and developing plans and projects for the prevention of drug abuse, its abatement, and rehabilitation of drug abuse victims. It also conducts drug tests for individuals and organisations, drug counselling and research, and forms part of the rehabilitation team within the penal system.

According to the council, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco are reported to be the most abused drugs by young people in Jamaica. In fact, alcohol tops the list with 45 per cent of youngsters, especially boys, misusing it. It says over 80 per cent of adolescents who use alcohol report that they started before age 14.