Several prominent high school campuses are now being used to facilitate the illegal drug trade, with students boasting big bucks from their involvement.

So prominent is the trade that THE STAR was able to speak to five 'student dealers' from different high schools in Kingston and St. Catherine.

The dealers openly admitted to selling 'ganja' on their campuses, although it is against the law and school rules.

"Afta dat no new. Right ya now, if me waan some funds fi miself, mi can invest inna some weed (marijuana) and sell it a school ... Mi haffi mek some profits," one student from one of the prominent high schools in Kingston bragged.

While THE STAR did not witness students making ganja purchases, the newsteam saw the drugs that the dealers were offering.

While talking to them about their operations, the team was told that they easily made an average of $3,000 weekly selling bags of the drug with prices ranging from $10 to $100 each.

Bag prices

The student dealers operation is similar to that of the street dealers from whom they purchase their products. "Jus like how di man dem out a road do dem ting a so we do it to. $10 bag, $20 bag and if dem deh too small wi have $100 bag," one student dealer explained.

THE STAR also learnt that the pricing structure was not the only way in which the student dealers were similar to their street counterparts in their mode of operations.

According to the students, there are designated areas for weed selling and buying, as there is always the threat of being caught.

"It only natural seh once mi reach a school, mi go lock di ting someweh. Mi naw go walk up an' dung wid it 'cause more time dem search wi up," one student dealer explained.

Another dealer also shared similar claims with THE STAR, as he explained that they carried on their dealings at a particular spot which is known by many, if not all students.

Operations officer at the community safety branch of the Safe Schools Programme, Deputy Supt. Merrick Watson, admitted that the programme has come across reports of the school drug trade.

He, however, noted that based on these reports, the school resource officers who are responsible for communicating with students, had not seen the frequency of such reports as being conducted at an alarming rate.

"We know children will indulge themselves in these activities ... We have had a few isolated incidents as they come up from time to time, but not on a broad scale," DSP Watson said.

Principals of the affected schools also admitted awareness of the activities and said that they will take a zero tolerance approach to these activities if the culprits are caught. They say that the guilty parties will be expelled from their institutions.

"It's sad to say, but drug abuse in schools is by no way nothing new, so it would only make sense for school officials to ensure that students are kept informed about the dangers of being involved in such activities," one principal said.

But despite the threat of expulsion, some students say that they are willing to take the risk because it provides the necessary funds for their schooling and to help their families. There were also others who say that it provided them with some form of financial independence.

At least two students who spoke to THE STAR openly admitted to selling ganja in order to finance their stylish wants.

"Mi naw lie to yuh still, my people tek care a my school ting dem - school books and everything, so dat a nuh my problem ... Mi sell weed and mek my own money suh mi can buy anything weh mi want, suh mi nuh affi pressure mi people dem," the fifth form student said before adding, "If mi want a hot shoes, mi nuh affi a beg, mi jus use mi own money and buy it. If mi want a hot bag a di same ting, if mi want money fi go out a di same ting. Mi nuh haffi depend pon nobody."

Similar was the claim of another student of a comprehensive high school, who claimed that his schooling necessities were taken care of by his parents, but they refused to fund his sometimes petty wants.

"Mi naw sell miself, and me is a yute nuh wear nutten but di latest, so mi jus juggle likkle herbs fi tek care a miself, so mi nuh haffi pressure mi mada and fada 'cause dem nuh like spend money pon dem ting deh," he explained.

Meanwhile, DSP Watson says that the safe schools programme is "geared toward identifying unacceptable activities similar to this" and he says that they will definitely be implementing corrective measures for what he calls "isolated incidents".