Saint Lucia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, has sounded the alarm that drug-laced candy is circulating in the school system here.
She spoke at a Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association (SLMDA) awards ceremony at the Bay Gardens Hotel on Friday.
Belmar-George said the manufacture of new psychoactive substances and novel preparation of traditional drugs need to be under the public health and law enforcement radar as an emerging threat to health and security.
She recalled a consultation about two months ago with the new Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat (SAACS) Director.
“A lot of what we did not know is happening within the school system,” Belmar-George disclosed.
Belmar-George told the awards ceremony she was surprised to see some of the products confiscated from school children.
“I thought the drugs in Saint Lucia were cannabis – I did not know we had reached the US levels of all of those psychoactive substances. I didn’t know it was here. Maybe I was very naive,” the Chief Medical Officer stated.
“But there are a lot of those psychoactive substances which are in the developed world that are really here,” Belmar-George revealed.
“We have already met with the Ministry of Education – we are collaborating with them on that. It’s the products that look like regular gummies and candies, the Skittles, and I mean, if I pick up the pack, I wouldn’t know,” she explained.
However, Belmar-George told the audience the package has a little cannabis leaf in one corner.
“These products are here, and they are being used and shared within our school system and the police have been confiscating them from school children,” the senior Health Ministry official noted.
She said the SAACS Director was assessing the problem, and a campaign targeting the main focus areas would follow.
“It looks like regular candy and they are laced with a whole set of different substances,” Belmar-George warned.
Headline photo: Internet stock image.
Doc.. It’s just the matter of time.
We have have everything else through the Barrels…
Our children have gone astray due to their parents are overworked and underpaid, the kids have all the time to get into mischief..
Blame the politicians.. All of them..
Their children are out of St Lucia and abroad schooling, and their followers and the children are out on the streets causing mayhem..
THINK! Folks..
I endorse my thoughts and commonsense..
SO IF YOU KNOW IT HAS A LEAF IN THE CORNER, OTHER PPL HAVE KNOWLEDGE AND ARE SELLING IT DELIBRATELY, EDIBLES AS THEY ARE CALLED SHOULD HAVE A SPECIAL STORE FOR THEM TO BE SOLD AND MONITORED PROPERLY. THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS ITS A SERIOUS MATTER. SOME ONE CAN OVERDOSE ON EDIBLES AND EVEN DIE , BECAUSE THC IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT AMOUNG OTHER ADDED ONS THAT ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.
you see the thing about it is most of our people dont read. while it may be true this is here there is a chance that who ever had this never knew cause it just looks like normal candy to the untrained eye, now before you go on and start saying things, that candy obviously is made for adults only. A similar situation happened in America the child took it to school thinking its normal gummy bears and stated sharing it with all his friends time you check ambulance had to be called in the school.
Very naive CMO, even a square peg in a round hole
It is naive of you to think Saint Lucia will remain innocent forever…the world is now globalised and it’s time to think globally…I fear the non forward thinking of the Saint Lucian authorities will be the undoing of us all…a process that appears to have started already….time to way up…the world is a very harsh place….
People are so frustrated in this island that we have to take something to get high when you have thousands of people earning 3 dollars an hour working 18 hour shifts that not nothing easy …
The school system is broken to the core. It won’t be surprised teachers are selling it in schools, they do anything to make extra money, our economy become so porous that without money you either ended up at choc decorated cemetery or lose your moral dignity, lost your moral compass and sense of purpose.
IF this has been in the school system for a while– even if its 1 week…. why have parents not been informed of this prior to this article? These schools always begging for money and supplies from parents via letters/ whatsapp etc but not one warning letter to sound the ALARM!
@C Wiz you hit the nail on the head — and the CMO should not state we have reached US levels – with all due respect to the CMO drugs in all forms are a WORLD WIDE issue (do the research: even in the middle east) –addicts are living in tunnels underground (very sad state of affairs) and the key is too not get started with drugs in the first place. No one is exempt from problems which is part of life – but you can not solve a problem by adding drugs to the equation – it only makes matters much worst.
We all need to instill resilience, leadership qualities and strength in our kids so they will be able to fight the fight for living with integrity – honestly; it really is a fight and folk have to be strong in order to win this battle in the journey call life.
Trust me, it can be accomplished – I have been around drugs and folk who were involved in drug use and was never even tempted to get involved with any of it. On the contrary, when I saw what was going on — I immediately made my way out of there quick fast and in a HURRY. Godspeed
@George – you are absolutely correct.
alot of stuff happening in the schools that are hidden from the public. ALOT trust me we have school where teachers involving in sexual relations with students and the list goes on .especially the so call high end schools its like a secret society it not reaching the public ears unless someone speel the bean
I don’t believe the CMO is that naive. This is bordering on lack of intelligence. This gummy candy drug is fairly new and like everything else once it is somewhere in the world, it is everywhere. For years weed brownies and vape is common place at schools especially secondary schools in St Lucia. Every minister, from Mitchel to Edward have spoken about it in different forums. Is my CMO saying she is not aware of drugs at schools throughout her tenure.
Why would it take the CMO to address this issue at an awarded ceremony, seriously with you
And with so much work being done by the Cannabis Task Force why would she still reger to mariguana as a drug
If the issue was do serious I dont think thats the right place to disclose this informativo it’s simple show you dont have one care or regar for st lucians
It could be because your break is properly buttetrd and your children are the fortunate élites you cannot relate to such a sensitive issue……MOVE UP insensitive uncaring CMO
Incredible
Blame everything on Barrels smh.
Where is the Minister of Education to address this, and why this didnt made news a long time ago. Why isnt there a photo of the pack of candy for people to see what its like. why everything is a hush hush here
The schools administration is not competent to deal with the sloppy behavior with their students, the often wash situations under the table when it repeats it self and go out of control the place it in the hands of the social worker at school who is also not trained, and then the chaos starts. The teachers and administrative look to throw your kids under the bus at the end of the day, dry rot policies/rules and they enjoy watch your kids suffers. If parents don’t stand up for their kids awa for you, the schools teaches/support and harbor criminals, rapist, pimps .. you name it. Not today school children are being used as drugs traffickers, they fuel politicians to win elections… pure BS
Where is the Customs Department in all. This not nbe handled by simply making comments at an Awards Ceremony. Firm action is required by authorities.
Issue a public statement, enforce a ban on the products in question and get Customs to act.