Dear Editor,
Addiction has been a major problem in our small community since the drug “crack cocaine” swept across the world and our shores in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a subsequent epidemic where the rise in fear, anxiety, and stress created historic increases in substance abuse, drug overdoses, and corresponding mental illness globally and of course in St. Maarten as well.
Initially, humanity dealt with the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 disease. Individuals had to sift through the conflicting messages from authorities. The world lost control and the people lost their personal freedoms. Overnight abrupt changes were made to life, to everyone’s plans both immediate and future. Deep, crippling concerns were birthed for everyone’s health, not just in St. Maarten but across the entire globe. Physical health and soon behind it burgeoning concerns for mental health and overall well-being of everyone as well as that of their relatives and loved ones. Added to this were lockdowns, home confinement for indefinite periods of time, with no one having any answers, shifting people into both isolation and a paralyzing lack of autonomy and causing a substantial and growing financial losses.
As was seen with other pandemics of our time such as Ebola, H1N1 and other viruses, negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, anger and confusion followed the pandemics. As is to be expected, these major stressors often lead to an increased risk of psychopathology such as anxiety or depression.
During the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, increasing from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019.
In 2017, the global estimated prevalence of depression showed a proportion of 3.44 per cent (ranging between 2 per cent and 6 per cent.). Now research suggests that during the COVID-19 outbreak, rates of depression in the general population have risen to almost 7 times higher.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of June 2020, 13 per cent of Americans reported starting or increasing substance use as a way of coping with stress or emotions related to COVID-19.
More people are using drugs, and there are more drugs, and more types of drugs are available now than ever before in human history. Over the past decade, there has been a diversification of the substances available on the drug markets. In addition to traditional plant-based substances – cannabis, cocaine and heroin – the past decade has witnessed the expansion of a dynamic market for synthetic drugs and the non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs and prescription medicines. All of which poses an even greater challenge to the prevention of drug use and the treatment of drug use disorders than in the past.
Even at Turning Point, the number of outpatient clients seen has doubled. The requests received from the community for voluntary clients have increased.
Here are some important stats from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Drug Use:
Around 269 million people globally used drugs in 2018, up 30 per cent from 2009, with adolescents and young adults accounting for the largest share of users.
Among the estimated 269 million people who used drugs in the past year, some 35.6 million people (range: 19.0 million to 52.2 million) are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders, meaning that their pattern of drug use is harmful, or they may experience drug dependence and/or require treatment.
And according to the CDC, before the pandemic in 2019 there were 70,000 deaths by overdose in the US. However, during the pandemic this number rose to 92,000, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to recent CDC provisional data.
Based on recent discussions held at the Ministry of Justice, it has been revealed that there has been an alarming rise in specific substances not before prevalent as abused substances in St. Maarten. Global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic such as the rise in substance abuse and mental health disorders, drive us to be more prepared for the coming aftermath that this difficult period will undoubtedly bring. Because when society ignores the harmful impacts of drug use and the disorders it creates, the repercussions can extend far beyond the individual to affect the health and well-being of others, including their families, neighborhoods and the community at large; thus, actively creating an island where there is social disadvantage, low educational attainment, increased difficulty in finding and sustaining employment, and financial instability and poverty.
As we all work through this difficult time, Turning Point would like to ask everyone in our community to be a support system for those around them who may be struggling with addiction. Personify caring for each other. Also, please anticipate that Turning Point will be reaching out to community leaders and organizations to discuss ideas on how we can together, combat substance abuse on the island.
For additional questions or concerns, contact
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Turning Point Foundation
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is Saturday, June 26.
