The use of drugs and alcohol continues to rise among high school students in The Bahamas

Drug Use By High School Students On The Rise

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas


THE use of drugs and alcohol is continuing to rise among high school students.

More secondary school students are using alcohol and marijuana than they were in 2008, according to the recently released 2011 Secondary School Drug Prevalence Survey results.

The survey, conducted on 2,639 students from 44 private and public schools by the National Anti-Drug Secretariat of the Ministry of National Security, reveals that lifetime use of alcohol is at 70 per cent, an increase from the 68.2 per cent in 2008 and the 64.4 per cent in 2002.

“Fully one-half,” according to the report, “of all students had taken an alcoholic drink in the past year and a total of 29.9 per cent drank an alcoholic beverage within the past month; slightly up from the 22.6 per cent in 2002 and the 28.9 per cent in 2008.”

“Binge drinking, which was defined as drinking five or more drinks on any one occasion, was rather common.”

“A total of 46.8 per cent of the students who drank within the month prior to the survey had engaged in one or more sessions of binge drinking in the two weeks preceding the survey,” the report further noted.

Drinking took place most often at social events and at home for students who had drunk within a year of taking the survey.

“The primary source of alcohol for those students who admittedly drank within the year preceding the survey was; Friends – 25.4 per cent; Shop – 20.4 per cent; Other Relative -18.6 per cent; and Parents -12.5 per cent.”

Regarding marijuana usage, the report notes that 13.7 per cent of all students had tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime, with 9.7 per cent having used it within the past year and 5.0 per cent in the 30 days immediately prior to answering the survey.

“Usage rates in 2008 were 12.7 per cent lifetime, 7.2 per cent in the past year and 3.4 per cent in the past month,” the report said.

“Of those who did admit to smoking marijuana within the past year, 28.2 per cent did so only once; 32.7 per cent occasionally; and another 28.6 per cent on a weekly or more frequent basis.”

The report also notes that marijuana usage is predominant among male students and by the 12th grade, usage is four times higher than in the eighth grade.

The use of cigarettes decreased significantly for lifetime use when compared to the 2002 Survey, but was similar to the rate observed in 2008.

“Approximately 13.1 per cent of all students smoked a cigarette at least once during their lifetime; as compared to 19.8 per cent in 2002 and 12.9 per cent in 2008. Overall, only 5.1 per cent had smoked a cigarette in the year preceding the survey, up from the 3.5 per cent in 2008,” the report noted.

The report further notes that after alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes, the substance tried most often by the students was solvents and inhalants. Slightly over 10 per cent reportedly tried a solvent or inhalant at least once in their lives; an increase from the 5.4 per cent observed in 2008.

The abuse of prescription drugs, both tranquillizers and stimulants, including ecstasy, was not common among Bahamian secondary school students the report noted.

Approximately 4 of every 10 students (42.0 per cent) was exposed to drugs through the presence of friends who used an illicit substance and “15.5 per cent of all students reported that they had at least one parent who had problems related to drinking alcohol.”

July 01, 2013

Tribune 242 

Bahamas Blog International

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1 in 3 women abused worldwide

BY CORY COUILLARD

PHYSICAL or sexual violence affects more than one in three women worldwide, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partnering health authorities. The report represents the first systematic study of global data on the prevalence of violence against women.

"Some 35 per cent of all women will experience either intimate partner or non-partner violence," says the report. Additionally, 38 per cent of all women murdered were reportedly killed by their partners, and such violence is a major contributor to depression, alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and abortions.

"These findings send a powerful message that violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions," said Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO. "We also see that the world's health systems can and must do more for women who experience violence."

Health impacts of violence

Violence in the home is a major contributor to women's mental health. The report found women who experienced partner violence to be nearly twice as likely to experience depression. Further, mental health disorders are skyrocketing as children view the abuse and it becomes a generational acceptance.

About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14. Around 20 per cent of the world's children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems. Stigma about mental disorders and discrimination often prevents people from seeking mental health care.

"Women experiencing intimate partner violence are almost twice as likely as other women to have alcohol-use problems," according to the WHO.

Alcohol use has short and long-term health consequences. It's a leading cause of depression and other mental health conditions as well as sexually transmitted infections. Women who experience physical and/or sexual partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea or HIV.

Additionally, violence is a leading cause of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. The report found that women experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence are twice as likely to have an abortion. If the female carries to term, they have a 16 per cent greater chance of having a low birth-weight baby -- a leading cause of infant mortality and complications.

"This new data shows that violence against women is extremely common. We urgently need to invest in prevention to address the underlying causes of this global women's health problem," said Professor Charlotte Watts, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

"Gender-based violence is responsible for the psychological distress, which results in acceptance, which results in more violence, and consequently, more psychological distress: a cycle of risk and consequence," said Rachel Jewkes from the South African Medical Research Council.

Psychological distress and alcohol use also makes it much harder for women to protect themselves. It makes them more likely to accept the man's dominance in the relationship and she is more likely to have frequent sex without a condom, explains Jewkes.

Women often suffer isolation, inability to work, loss of wages and lack participation in activities. These common outcomes will prevent and limit a woman's ability to care for herself and her family.

Sadly, a common side effect of abuse is more abuse - It's a downward spiral.

Dr Cory Couillard is an international health care speaker and columnist for numerous publications throughout the world. He works in collaboration with the World Health Organisation's goals of disease prevention and global health-care education. drcorycouillard@gmail.com. twitter: DrCoryCouillard

June 26, 2013

Jamaica Observer

Bahamas Blog International

PETROCARIBE: Cooperation within a new framework

By Mario Esquive

THE integrationist enterprise PETROCARIBE, launched in 2005 to support Latin American and Caribbean energy security, has designed new structures for cooperation, meant to consolidate its position internationally.

Critical to this effort is a proposal to work for the creation of a PETROCARIBE Economic Zone, subject to analysis of specific national characteristics by members’ respective governments.

The objective looks to support the strengthening of member countries economically and socially, through the establishment of a framework for trade and stimulation of productive activities

According to experts, this option differs from similar, traditional schema in which, for the most part, foreign industrial and service businesses are authorized to function within an area, under a regimen of financial and administrative benefits and exemptions.

In the case of PETROCARIBE, the special economic zone would facilitate the articulation of production sequences through a regional development plan.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro noted that June 29, the anniversary of the group’s foundation, would be an appropriate occasion to make concrete decisions along these lines, above all in the economic and financial spheres.

The measures, he added, must lead to the strengthening of investments in key areas such as agriculture, agricultural industry, technology and tourism, among other economic activities.

Figures indicate that PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela) has sold 232 million barrels of oil to the country’s 17 associates in the group over the last six years.

The daily average delivery of 108,000 barrels by PDVSA covers 40% of the consumption requirements of PETROCARIBE member nations.

The enterprise agreement operates within a financing framework which uses prices on the international market as a reference. However, dispositions exist to support member countries, such as grace periods for payment over one or two years, along with the option to cancel a portion of the debt with food supplies.

Now the economic zone strategy is looking to consolidate productive sectors in order to generate economic earnings to make the cooperative operation sustainable.

The agreement, which includes 18 countries, has thus far made advances in the social arena which go beyond the supply of fuel under favorable financial conditions.

Through the ALBA-Caribe Fund, 179 million dollars have been allocated for 85 projects in 12 countries, in addition to $22 million for electrical works.

By way of the ALBA Food Fund, 24 million dollars were made available to a dozen initiatives to promote sustainable production of basic food items.

Additionally, 12 joint venture companies have undertaken 48 projects in their respective countries. (Orbe)

 

June 20, 2013

 

Grama.cu

 

Bahamas Blog International

 

The issue of Haitians in The Bahamas

The Rise of the Haitian Population in The Bahamas - The Haitian Community in The Bahamian Nation Continues to Expand

The rise of the Haitian population

By Juan McCartney
Guardian Broadcast Editor
juan@nasguard.com

Community expands since independence

The issue of Haitians in The Bahamas has long been a contentious one. On one side of the divide are those who believe The Bahamas should be welcoming toward Haitians. The other side is filled with those who believe our national identity is being threatened and normally blame Haitians for a host of social ills.

It wasn’t always this way.

While there were many years in the middle of the 20th Century when Haitians trickled in for menial labor jobs and were usually just as quick to leave, the 1980s saw a boom in Haitian migration as that nation’s economy and political situation collapsed.

Now, as The Bahamas celebrates its 40th anniversary as an independent nation, many are reflecting on how much has changed with regard to the Haitian population since the birth of the nation.

According to census data, since independence, the population of the entire Bahamas has more than doubled; however, the Haitian population has grown to more than six times what it was in 1970.

The data, compiled by the Department of Statistics, shows that Haitians represented 3.6 percent (6,151) of the population in 1970. By 2000, that figure nearly doubled to 7.1 percent (21,426). According to the census conducted in 2010, Haitians represented 11.5 percent (39,144) of the population.

Put another way: At least one out of every 10 people who reside in The Bahamas is now Haitian.

And the growth is projected to continue. Data collected by the Department of Statistics in 2010 on births in The Bahamas over the previous 40 years shows that women, domestic and foreign-born, are having fewer children. Except Haitian women, that is.

While the overall birth rate in 2010 was about 50 percent of what it was in 1970, the birth rate among Haitian women in The Bahamas has nearly doubled in the past 40 years.

This, even as births by foreign women have dropped in the past four decades, from about 30 percent in 1970 to about 18 percent in 2010.

“The number of births (to Haitian women) grew from 7.2 percent in 1970, to an average of 13.7 percent by 2010,” the report noted. “In contrast, births to women of Jamaican ethnicity declined by some 50 percent. For females from countries outside the Caribbean, the numbers of births plunged, especially since 2008 to (nearly zero) from 12.1 in 1970.”

Though Haitians now make up 11 percent of the population, that number is basically focused in a handful of islands, often making the Haitian presence seem much greater.

According to data compiled by W.J. Fielding, et al., published in The Stigma of Being “Haitian” in The Bahamas in The College of The Bahamas Research Journal, 2008, shows that Haitian communities are mainly present on Abaco, New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera.

“This has resulted in a perception that Haitians are taking over,” noted Fielding, et al.

“It would seem that economic opportunities are the driving force which causes the Haitian community to become concentrated, which would be expected given that Haitians migrate to The Bahamas to find work.

“The disproportionate increase in size of the Haitian community can expect to make nationals feel threatened, and lead to xenophobia and, in the case of the Dominican Republic, attacks on Haitian migrants.”

And the fact that Haitians are having more children seems to have further concentrated their presence in schools on the four islands they predominantly reside on.

Fielding showed that on Abaco, in 2005, Haitians represented 16.9 percent of the population. However, Haitian children accounted for 31.3 percent of those enrolled in school.

On New Providence, where Haitians accounted for 7.2 percent of the population, Haitian children accounted for 12.5 percent of those enrolled in school.

Things were on a more even keel in Grand Bahama, where Haitians represented 5.4 percent of the population and 5.8 percent of students.

On Eleuthera, Haitians represented 9.5 percent of the population and 10 percent of students.

Fielding submitted that being Haitian in The Bahamas leads to stigmatization and isolation.

One of the very real situations that leads to further discrimination and stigmatization of Haitians are shantytowns.

According to a report completed earlier this year by researchers in the Department of Environmental Health, there has been ‘a marked increase’ in the number of

shantytowns on New

Providence over the last two years and the populations have grown “exponentially”.

According to the report titled ‘Haitian shanty village locations in New Providence’, there are at least 15 of these illegal communities on the island.

Researchers found that there is a “marked indifference to the extremely unhealthy conditions by those that occupy the shanties”.

The researchers also found that there is an abundant use of Bahamian pine trees for the purpose of producing coal for commercial purposes.

They said commerce is alive and well in many of the areas surveyed, and also warned of a serious and growing threat to public health.

Researchers said “the presence of discarded human usage, waste, combined with the presence of domestic livestock is evident”.

It said the teams of researchers observed, in almost every shantytown, the presence of human and animal waste.

The report said the Haitian migration, and subsequent squatting, are focused primarily in New Providence and the Family Islands with larger population concentrations like Abaco and Andros.

Researchers said an increasing trend is the increase in the number of Bahamians (people who claim to be Bahamian citizens based on one parent being of Haitian progeny) while others claim outright Bahamian ancestry.

Discussing shantytowns in their research, Fielding et al., noted that the cycle of Haitians occupying such villages is likely to continue.

“It is clear that the Haitian community lives in poorer circumstances than other residents in the country,” they noted. “Almost certainly, this is due to lower incomes, which in turn is a result of poor education and (presumably) language barriers, which prevent Haitian nationals from getting better employment.”

Minister of Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett last week promised a crackdown on shantytowns, claiming that the process of clearing them up has just started.

However, there is one glaring mystery left in the wake of Dorsett’s proclamation: What is to become of the predominantly Haitian residents of the shantytowns?

The Christie administration has so far not presented a solution to the problem of illegal Haitian migration – long or short term.

There has been a commitment to beef up the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, but that will take years and the focus of that plant upgrade is still unclear.

Forty years after independence, the problem of Haitian migration in The Bahamas persists without a viable plan to stop it or to naturalize and integrate them into our culture.

“Rather than being considered a threat, as migrants can be,” said Fielding, “These people should be seen as a legitimate part of a multicultural society who enrich the lives of all residents.”

June 17, 2013

The Nassau Guardian

Is civil society becoming extinct?

By Anthony GOMES

 

THROUGHOUT the world, civil society is disappearing and being replaced by violence of all descriptions and brutality of the worst kind.   Apart from the cultural coarsening of civil society, whether they include violent street protests.  engaging the police at one end of the spectrum, or civil war fuelled by sectarian lifestyle differences, the planet again faces the possibility of world conflagration.

The humanitarian tragedy of Syria, the Boko Haram Islamic uprising in Nigeria, the sabre-rattling aggression of North Korea, the unwinnable Afghanistan campaign, the neutralising of al-Qaeda in Yemen, the intense cultural differences between Sunni and Shea in Iraq, the interventions by Iran in Iraq and Lebanon by Hezbollah, and incursions by al-Qaeda in Mali, Algeria and Libya all began with inaccurate Western intelligence regarding the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), that were never found.  Theey were recently believed to be stored in Syria, mainly consisting of chemical weapons, and used, according to France and the EU, against the Syrian rebel cohorts.  Let us also not forget the struggle in Pakistan against the al-Qaeda Taliban.   Being a nuclear power with a well-stocked atomic arsenal, Pakistan is of serious concern to the Western powers, lest atomic weapons were to fall into the hands of the Taliban.

As described above, there is no denying that the deadly plague of terrorism is spreading beyond all borders, in the name of Islam.   In recent years al-Qaeda has suffered heavy losses resulting from drone strikes that regrettably have a high rate of collateral damage, which has made them a very unpopular offensive weapon.  The al-Qaeda magazine Inspire has revealed their newly devised strategy that calls for home-grown individual jihadists, who have been radicalised to carry out attacks, mostly on "soft" targets; similar to the Boston bombings, the murder of the young Fusilier in London, and the latest shootings with the resemblance of an al-Qaeda operation in Santa Monica, US, that is yet to be confirmed.  The Western Christian powers are still considering how to deal with this new offensive self-sacrificing run of events.

Since the end of WW II, the faith and morals of the Christian West have undergone serious diminution in the cause of social freedom, sovereignty, and fuelled by secularism that has given new intepretation to what is right or wrong.   Traditions and other cultural norms have been tested in the legal and ecclesiastical domains, widening the meaning of "truth" to embrace influential factors of human rights, gender and race, all of which have spawned pernicious arguments, which may be termed "modern" jurisprudence.   In colloquial language: "One can do no wrong," if you can afford a skilled defender.

These liberalised modern statutes represent a departure from what was considered normal or accepted, or regarded as right.  This new-founded attitude has given rise to open disobedience that challenges all the rules of the historic social establishment which, in too many cases, ends up in tragedy.  The sinister characteristics can be seen in the murder of innocents, the aged, decapitations, abortion, and euthanasia, to list some of the more common acts that stalk the "land we love".   The defenders of human rights from abroad find it difficult to grasp the multiple and brutal murders that occupy the pages and waves of our media.  They find it difficult to understand why capital punishment is appropriate in such indescribable assaults on human kind.  This mindset is due, in part, to the landmark case of Ruth Ellis, which changed the previously held attitude to capital punishment in the UK.

In 1955, in Britain, the practice of capital punishment encountered a major challenge which resulted in the mandatory requirement for the death penalty in capital cases being removed.  Until then, there was strong support for the application of the death penalty, dictated by the law at that time.  However, with the landmark case of Ruth Ellis, a 28-year-old young woman born in North Wales on 9th October 1925, who was the last woman to be hanged on 13th July 1955 at Her Majesty's woman's prison, Holloway, in London.  Her case was one of premeditated murder to which she confessed, and, according to public opinion, would have been classified in this century as a "crime passionelle" that warranted life imprisonment.  She was executed by Albert Pierrepoint, a member of the historically famous family of executioners.   The event caused a fundamental change in public opinion that has reshaped contemporary jurisdiction in the UK.

Since then, Western societies have witnessed a raft of dramatic liberalisations which have changed the current social lifestyles across the Western hemisphere from same-sex unions to rampant multiple shootings of innocent civilians and schoolchildren, due to the easy possession of powerful military-type firearms which, in the case of the US, is enshrined in the Second Amendment of their constitution and relentlessly upheld by the powerful National Rifle Association.

The cost of maintaining the new-found liberalised lifestyle comes at a high price, with many deserving malevolent souls walking free, given the present complex system of proving guilt due to the monumental earnings in circulation from the drugs trade, and the threatened reprisals against the families of witnesses that form the themes of the nightly television stories that are becoming more realistic as time goes by.

May we be guided to calmer waters by the prayers of the faithful.

June 12, 2013

Jamaica Observer

...the future of The Bahamas

The young and unemployed

The Nassau Guardian Editorial
Nassau, The Bahamas



On May 7, 2012, many young Bahamians exercised their right to vote in an election for the first time.  But it is this generation lured by promises of a better Bahamas that continues to suffer the consequences of continually failing government policies.  The Bahamas has an overall unemployment rate of 14 percent that surges to nearly 31 percent for those between the ages of 15 and 24.

It is this generation of discouraged Bahamians who asks where are the promised 10,000 jobs?  The government’s answer: An inadequate campaign to expel domestic staff in the pursuit of a so-called Bahamians first policy.  Surely, the government can do more to inspire, develop and meet the career aspirations of our children?  To the misfortune of our young, simply being Bahamian will neither improve educational aptitude, nor professional qualifications.

Spending on education has not doubled as promised.  Repeatedly passed for seemingly more pressing matters of webshops and lottery, poor education now stands as a significant barrier of entry to the workplace.  A point of consternation reiterated by the Bahamian business community and acknowledged in a recent Inter-American Development (IDB) report.

Yet this government prefers to appease the cronies of independence, while our youth stand idle with dangerous temptation.  They naively listen to the PLP’s ongoing eulogy of a glorious era under Sir Lynden Pindling that seldom touches on the problems of drugs and corruption during those times.  They dream of the yesteryear of independence because this is a government that prefers the past to the present.  They cheer the creation of a holiday to celebrate majority rule, while our Parliament bars entry to young people when they seek accountability.

The College of The Bahamas Union of Students (COBUS) made a laudable attempt to express its dismay for college fee increases but saw its efforts dashed by ridiculous assertions that the peaceful and professionally-dressed student group was a security threat.  Unlike Spain and Greece, our youth have not marched en masse on Rawson Square to demand change.

In its second year, this government must reaffirm its commitment to education and make it a priority.  It must showcase talented Bahamians whose intellectual prowess has lead to success.  It must advocate scholastic achievement through hard work and dedication to study.  It must engrain in the minds of our youth that education is the key to success.  Most importantly, the government must engage this next generation of Bahamians in the process and administration of government.
They are the future Bahamas.

June 11, 2013

The Nassau Guardian

Bahamas Blog International