Magistrate calls for juvenile drug treatment court
IN LIGHT OF the increasing number of children and teenagers running into problems with the use of drugs, the time has come for consideration to be given to the establishment of a juvenile drug treatment court.
This is the belief of Chairman of the Drug Treatment Court (DTC), Magistrate Graveney Bannister, who described the current punishment of sending children off to the Government Industrial School (GIS) for three years, because they have been involved in the use of drugs, as a draconian measure.
He said statistics show that a high number of children are using cannabis in Barbados, a reality which is becoming commonplace and has to be addressed.
“If there is a drug court programme, they can complete their education outside of such an environment. So maybe consideration can be given to that in the future.
“But what we are seeing associated with that is violence in our schools. So we need to arrest the use of drugs, and we need to get out of this denial that it is not in certain institutions. My information is that it is commonplace in a lot of the institutions, even though it might be more publicised in others,” Bannister said.
The Magistrate made the call as he sat on a panel discussion organised by the Men’s Fellowship of the Cave Hill Wesleyan Holiness Church, held at the St Michael church on Thursday evening, addressing the topic “Not My Child – The Drug Debate”.
When asked about whether Barbados currently has the resources available to establish such a court, Magistrate Bannister responded that the DTC which started three years ago is funded by the Organisation of American States (OAS). He suggested that a similar format and financing system could be adopted for a juvenile court.
“I believe that we may need to build capacity and have additional training for people to man these courts. Dealing with children is different from dealing with adults,” he said.
“Quite often, like anything else, we always complain about the lack of resources. That was one of the issues that we were faced with when we were setting up the Drug Treatment Court in 2014. Quite often we have these challenges, but challenges must be overcome. So if we keep saying that we don’t have the resources we will never get anything done.
“I think sometimes when you start and people see that you are working, then you get the necessary help, especially from the international agencies. But we can’t just say that we do not have the resources,” Bannister further stated.
The Barbados Advocate research revealed that juvenile drug treatment courts are designed for youth with substance disorders who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.
These courts offer an important way to respond to the needs of substance-using youth and treat their complex disorders, which require specialised interventions. (AH)