16/02/2024
The country launches an early warning system for new substances with the support of the FIIAPP through the European COPOLAD project
Evaluation and research on drugs is one of the priorities for making political decisions on drugs. That is why the COPOLAD program has been accompanying, for more than a decade, the National Drug Observatories in Latin America, and in this third phase also in the Caribbean.
Within this framework, one of the Program’s partners, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) organized, with EU funding, a series of technical meetings related to the evaluation and analysis of drug policies. The events, together with the Jamaican National Council on Drug Abuse, took place in Kingston, and focused on three themes:
A review of the current cannabis policy landscape in Jamaica was conducted in a meeting that served as a space for the exchange of ideas with key stakeholders.
In addition, representatives of administrations responsible for cannabis policies from eight Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries presented their own national situations in a bi-regional workshop focused on cannabis policy models and their evaluation.
Some of the countries present were Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Grenada, Mexico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
The meeting allowed EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) delegates to engage in a technical dialogue with Jamaican stakeholders and institutions to discuss drug trends, forensic capacity and challenges related to the drug market. This event has supported an ongoing mapping exercise on the forensic capacity of LAC countries, which is being conducted within the framework of COPOLAD III. It will help to promote future cooperation between EU and LAC forensic institutions.
COPOLAD III accompanies Jamaica in the field of early warning systems and their importance at national and international level, therefore a workshop was held for experts involved in the implementation of a Jamaican national early warning system, with European and national examples. This system was launched in the presence of high-level national and international representatives.
