A powerful anti-drug lobby has added its voice to the chorus for a ban on lighting up in public spaces, even as smokers wait for a few more hours to know how much more they will pay for cigarettes.

The call came from Victor Roach, president of the International Commis-sion for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (ICPA) - Caribbean Bloc.

"I call upon the govern-ments of the region to introduce laws to ban smoking in public buildings and also to prevent young people from being able to purchase alcohol and tobacco as a practice," said Roach.

Fight for health

"The fight against drugs is the fight against health problems, crime, poverty, human rights and the extents to which we are able to do battle with drugs is the extent to which we can alleviate a number of burdens to the resources of our economies and the productivity of the people in this region and country," Roach said.

The anti-smoking lobbyist was speaking at the launch of the Jamaica chapter of ICPA at the Northern Caribbean University Gymnatorium yesterday.

Smokers now pay between $15 and $20 for each cigarette and between $250 and $400 for each 20-pack. But those prices will be hiked after changes in the tax structure announced by Finance Minister Audley Shaw in his Budget Debate presentation last Thursday.

Students using drugs

Michael Tucker, execu-tive director of the National Council on Drug Abuse, in his address, cited the 2006 National School Survey done in 70 schools across Jamaica with students between the ages 11 and 17, which found that over 70 per cent had used alcohol, one-third had used tobacco, 25 per cent ganja, three per cent crack cocaine (which includes seasoned spliff - a mixture of ganja and cocaine), 33 per cent showed the use of alcohol before the age of 10.

"We need to start to speak to young people from they are in kindergarten about what is a good or a bad drug," said Tucker. "As they age and get more mature, construct the message and programme in a way that there is a constant infusion of information about drugs and drug abuse throughout their school life."

Several European nations, including France most recently, have enforced smoking bans in public places due to health concerns about the dangers of second-hand smoke.