The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) has embarked on a new initiative which aims to disseminate information to citizens about social ills affecting the society.
The Research Evocations on Social Conduct and Urgencies (RESCU) project was born out of a brainstorming session held by ACDA members and will address drug abuse in its initial efforts.
The launch, held last Friday at ACDA’s headquarters at Thomas Lands, featured RESCU’s project Coordinator Barrington Braithwaite, Coordinator of the Phoenix Recovery Project Clarence Young, and Pastors Georgia and Godfrey Yearwood. Also in attendance was acting Chancellor Carl Singh.
At the beginning of the launch, Braithwaite made it clear that RESCU will in no way deal with the rehabilitation of drug users. Instead, he said it seeks only to provide access to vital information that has otherwise been lacking in the media surrounding the effects of substance abuse. Clementine Marshall, ACDA member, spoke of the effects substance abuse have on the core of the society and explained that the real goal they wish to achieve is to prevent more persons from falling slave to such substances.
“For now, drugs is one of the most important ills that is affecting us. Every single family I feel—if not in the immediate household—has some family or friend that is affected by this. RESCU is not to get the hardened drug users off of drugs—we do not have the capacity, we do not have the wherewithal to deal with that. What we want to do is put a separation between the persons who never used drugs and shock them into saying, ‘not me, I don’t want to use it,’” Marshall said.
Young drew a correlation between substance abuse and many of the problems Guyana is faced with socially.
“The question of dealing with drug demand reduction in any form, be it intervention or treatment, seems to be taboo. No one wants to deal with the question of drug use or misuse or treatment. However, we are faced daily with the ills of the effects of substance abuse, be it violence against women, incest, criminality, vagrancy—you name it. All of these ills in our society seem to be related to drug use. However, we’re afraid to even start that conversation as to how do we effectively address the situation,” he noted.
Braithwaite called into question the methods used to deal with substance abuse users locally, while stating that more times than not those with drug addiction are committed to the psychiatric ward, where they are treated for insanity.
Young, in support of this point, emphasised the important role the judicial system can play in the rehabilitation of persons who have fallen prey to drugs and used the opportunity to thank the Chancellor for his ongoing support of the initiative. “There are a few magistrates who offer rehabilitation instead of incarceration but we need to see this as a part of legislation… the substances may change, but the problem remains the same. What do we do?” he stated.
Young attributed Guyana’s current situation with substance abuse to a “copycat” culture, one that has unfortunately resulted in the deaths of scores of Guyanese who fell into the trap of popular culture.
“Right here in Guyana, we’re faced with the onset of synthetic drugs. Whatever is out there, Caribbean people in general have a tendency to be copycats. And the minute it’s being used in places like North America, people expect it here. However, recently I saw an article where one young man decided to try some spice—that’s synthetic marijuana—and four days later he was taken off life support and subsequently buried. How many more people are we prepared to bury in Guyana as a result of substance abuse?” he questioned.
Young went on to suggest that in order for any progress to be made in regards to decreasing the number of individuals who fall prey to drugs, an effective and comprehensive plan needs to be developed.
As part of the RESCU initiative, a team will be conducting outreach in communities seen to be most affected by substance abuse, while discussions are to being carried out in schools as well.
