A senior official of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), says while alcohol and marijuana are the main drugs used by Caribbean secondary school students "patterns vary widely from country to country."

Francisco Cumsille, chief of CICAD's Inter-American Drug Observatory (OID) was commenting on the findings of a comparative study on drug abuse among secondary school students in 12 Caribbean countries that was released during the fourth biennial meeting of the Caribbean National Drug Observatories in Port-of-Spain last week.

The first published report of its kind for the region was discussed by experts from 16 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) and representatives of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

CICAD said the comparative study aims to synthesize the most current data on drug consumption in the Caribbean in order to paint a more comprehensive picture of the region's problem and fit it into a global context.

"The findings demonstrate that even though participating countries share similar histories and cultures, the dimensions of drug use are quite unique to each country," said Cumsille, adding "while alcohol and marijuana are the main drugs of use, patterns still vary widely from country to country. We have to be cautious about making sweeping generalizations of the region."

"Compared to other regions, the prevalence of marijuana use among the school population in the Caribbean is high, and in some countries is higher than the prevalence of tobacco use," he said.

The meeting was organized by the National Drug Council of Trinidad and Tobago in collaboration with the OAS. Its purpose was to present and discuss the latest scientific research and information on drug use, such as the relationship between drugs and crime, and foster discussion on new and innovative research methods and results.

In addition, the meeting included a refresher course on building and managing national drug observatories, with discussions on how best to translate the results of drug-related research into policy and practice so that it can be more useful to those responsible for dealing with the illicit drug trade and/or drug consumption. (CMC)