Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 24, 2017 (SKNIS): Drug abuse prevention, especially among young people, is extremely important, in ensuring that a country has healthy and sound-minded persons who can sustain the economy by being productive and contribute positively to society.
Wednesday’s (November 22) edition of “Working for You touched on the benefits of drug abuse prevention, where Drug Prevention Officer, Newrish Nital, presented a scenario that explained why drug abuse treatment is important to persons battling substance abuse, as well as prevention for persons who may consider using drugs. He added that persons need to enjoy life and should aim to do so without the use of any drugs, as their contribution to society and the economy is vital.
“Life is a relay. We have a societal relay. You come, you be productive, and you contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The time will come when you will have to retire, resign and enjoy what remains of your life,” Mr. Nital said. “If we do not exercise these duties in trying to curb the misuse and abuse of drugs then we will have a void. So you might end up without a pension…If you have that void as a result of lack of contribution to social security…then we will have a problem.”
Mr. Nital explained that it is imperative to ensure that the societal relay continues in order to promote a sustainable economy.
“It cannot continue if you have persons with depraved minds, persons who cannot live a productive life. We have to have people contributing. It’s a duty for us to contribute and live a productive life so that our societal relay can continue,” the drug prevention officer stated. “Anything short of that will leave a void and it will put pressure on the government. You have to put safety nets in place in order to fill that void and sometimes even though you might have safety nets, the persons we are trying to help will not be in a position to appreciate the help because their faculties are not functioning as they ought to.”
The drug prevention officer added that it is necessary for the Drug Abuse Prevention Secretariat to intervene so as to ensure that persons contribute meaningfully to society and are able to appreciate life by being of sound mind.
“We might not be able to have it arrested, but we can mitigate against it. “Yes, things would happen but that void must not be too wide that we cannot take a single step over…we must take a small step over that void. In other words, we must try to prevent that gap from expanding,” he said.
