Pubdate: Mon, 10 Sep 2007
Source: Sun St. Kitts and Nevis (Antigua)
Copyright: 2007 SUN Printing & Publishing LTD
Contact:  http://sunstkitts.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4295

SKN REPRESENTED AT DRUG TRENDS, POLICIES MEETING

Two officers of the Royal St. Christopher/Nevis Police  Force are 
currently in Grenada participating in a  meeting/workshop designed to 
review recent drug-use  studies while strengthening the abilities of 
"drug  demand reduction practitioners" to effectively  implement and 
maintaining drug prevention programmes.

Acting Commissioner of Police in the Royal Federation  Stafford 
Liburd confirmed that Sergeant Leah Phipps,  who is attached to the 
Drug Unit and Inspector Lyndon  David, local co-ordinator of the Drug 
Awareness Resistance Education (DARE) Programme, are 
representing  the Federation at the meeting.

The two join their community/school drug use prevention  counterparts 
from the Caribbean OAS member states as  well as Caricom member and 
associate states.

The five-day two-phase meeting, which has been convened  by and 
agency of the Organization of American States,  the Inter-American 
Drug Abuse Control Commission  (CICAD) and the Caribbean Community 
(Caricom) Secretariat is for "Caribbean national drug  observatories 
which measure and analyse information on  drug use, drug prevention 
policy makers from the region  and drug demand reduction 
practitioners who work  directly with populations at risk."

During the first phase of the event which began  yesterday, policy 
makers will discuss just how research  findings on drug use can be 
put to practical use in  order to develop sound public policies that 
discourage  drug use.

Discussions on findings on drug use and related issued  which have 
been derived from national studies in the  Caribbean, undertaken and 
supported by CICAD and other  institutions, will also take place 
during the first  phase of the meeting.

The second phase of the event which will take the form  of a workshop 
begins on 13 Sept., and will focus on  strengthening the capacities 
of drug demand reduction  practitioners to carry out effective drug 
prevention  programmes.

The main objectives of the meeting and the workshop, as  outlines in 
a press release issued by the Organization  of American States, "are 
to present and discuss the  findings of recent drug use studies, 
sensitise those  who work in drug prevention and treatment policy to 
the  need to use research-based evidence for the development  of 
sound demand reduction programmes, and strengthen  the capacity of 
drug demand reduction practitioners in  the field to implement 
programmes for special  populations."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom