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| Participants at the SHID-MEM June Meeting |
Since after the meeting held in June for the MEM (of Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism) and SHID (Haitian System Inforamtion on Drugs), The CONALD through the OHD (Haitian Drug Observatory) has published the latest report on drugs in the country. Here it reports the executive summary of the report:
Under the initiative of the Haitian
Observatory on Drugs (OHD) of the
National Commission for the Fight against Drugs (CONALD),
a second workshop of the SHID (Haitian Information System on Drugs) was held on January
19 and 20, 2012. This meeting was held in order to allow the various stakeholders in the fight
against drugs, both
on the supply reduction and also on the demand reduction, to
participate in the sharing of
experiences and to define together new frontiers of
reflection on the issue of drugs in the country. The SHID is a network
bringing together all the stakeholders
involved in the fight against
drugs both on the
supply reduction (drug
trafficking, money laundering, etc.) also on
of the demand reduction (awareness, rehabilitation, treatment, etc.).
Speak and act
against the scourge
of drugs, is to know the
situation in terms measure, trend
and magnitude. Is Haiti a country presenting a
high consumption of marijuana? Drugs,
including alcohol, cocaine or yet
the cannabis are
they perceived as a danger within
the population?
The results of the school survey of 2009 have allowed to
bring elements of information and confirm the phenomenon of induced consumption. The main results found are the following:
• The
illicit drugs most consumed in Haiti are
marijuana and cocaine. Indeed,
it is attested that cocaine and marijuana reach respective
percentages of 2.04 and 2.01.
• 28.9% of students have taken tranquilizers without medical prescription during their life; 15%
took during the twelve (12) past months
and 11.5% during the last 30 days. The trend of consumption
of these substances remains more
or less stable compared to the
year 2005 where the prevalence of life was 29.79%. This High prevalence
is also seen in the abuse of stimulants (22.58%).
• Certain lawful drugs
are rising compared to 2005. This is the case for alcohol and cigarette which in 2009 had a respective
prevalence of 15% and 59.55% while in 2005 they did reached
only 11.12 and 53.64%.
• With
regard to the frequency of alcohol
consumption, it should be noted that 16.8% of students
drank at most one (1) glass of alcoholic beverages per day during the last thirty (30)
days, 5.8% had reported
consuming between two (2) to
three (3) glasses of alcohol per day. So this is a situation that
needs to be controlled because
students may be victims of
the so-called "binge
drinking."
• In terms of illicit
drugs, a lifetime prevalence
of 15.3% among boys is observed, more than three (3) boys of twenty (20) have already taken an illicit drug in their lifetime (see Table 2). For
girls, this indicator reached
16.7%.The age of initiation
for some drugs like marijuana is determined to 13 years, reflecting an
early use among young people.
The survey "among youth and adults in the town of Jacmel on their
perceptions of drugs and problems
associated with their use" performed by APAAC, provided relevant results on the state of knowledge on drugs.
• Almost all of
the respondents think that it is dangerous to abuse cocaine and
crack (99.8%), marijuana (98.4%),
solvents (98.2%) and cigarettes (96.3
%). However, it is important to note the significant
number of individuals who do
not consider the abuse of sedatives as a threat, or 30.3%.
• (154) people or
25.8% believe that drug abuse is related to the result of the weakness of
family structures.
• (205) respondents or 34.3% agree that it is a consequence of poverty;
• (238) respondents, or 39.8%, believe the problem is due to the influence of
foreign countries.
On the side of the supply reduction of drugs, that is to say, everything that
relates to the fight against illicit trafficking, money laundering and other
related crimes, many operations were made by the concerned institutions. These
operations resulted in the seizure of narcotics, the arrest of suspected
traffickers; goods (money, houses, vehicles, etc.) and other equipment (guns,
boats, etc.).
• In 2012 there was a seizure of 130,000 grams of marijuana and 300,000 grams
of cocaine
.
• In 2011, the convicted of drug trafficking are among 31 in total, including
29 males and 2 females and the other detainees are among 110 including 84 men
and 26 women. Another important indicator is the people deported to Haiti,
especially because of drug trafficking. The number of deportees has more than
doubled in 2011 compared to 2009, a total of 391 against 149 in 2009.
Regarding the reduction of demand for drugs, the total number of patients
admitted to the Mars and Kline Psychiatric Center, the hospital Beudet and
APAAC for the Year 2011 is 75 people.
The main substances
used by patients are marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and crack. Addicts use other
substances as "jucy lucy" (mixture of Cannabis and crack), lorazepam,
etc. The average age of first marijuana use is 17 years old that of alcohol is
16 years.
Main qualitative information collected:
• Datura commonly called "feuille cloche" and called rape drug
ecstasy are popular in recreational scene in Haiti.
• Homeless children mainly use solvents, marijuana, crack and cocaine.
• Girls getting used increasingly with alcohol. There is a strong increase in
alcohol consumption after the earthquake.
• Consumption sometimes of the substance called the "jucy lucy"
(joint of crack / cocaine / marijuana).
• Presence in the territory, significant amphetamine consumption.
• Illicit marijuana cultivation is practiced on small scale in some places
withdrawn from the country.
In relation to
this information, Haiti is not recognized
as a country producer of drugs but as a
territory coveted by drug
traffickers because of its
structural weaknesses and its
geographical position. The drug
problem is very real in the area. This growing threat of drug problem worldwide,
particularly in the Caribbean region, causes
the government to be very alert to new trends
in the area in order to adopt ingenious measures
to block the road
to criminal organizations. Thus, in accordance with the objectives set out in
the national strategy against drugs, several
actions will be taken to fight against this scourge of drug .In result of that,, CONALD planned the implementation of the following priority actions:
• The
implementation of a third school
survey
• Updating the Web
Site CONALD
• Seminar on
awareness, information and training for police and judicial
personnel
• Extension of CONALD
and the repressive institutions in other regions of the country
• Construction of a detoxification center in Tabarre
• Project of the
implementation of coalitions in
partnership with CADCA (Community
Anti Drug Coalition of America)
Soon the Drug report 2013 of Haiti:
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