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'There's a high use of drugs' in VI - Skelton-Cline

- Says marijuana is chiefly being consumed
Marijuana is chiefly being consumed in the Virgin Islands, according to social commentator Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline. Photo: piquenewsmagazine.com
Without providing any solid statistics or research to back his claims, ZBVI 780am 'Honestly Speaking' radio show moderator, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has declared that drugs use amongst men and youths in the Virgin Islands is now at a staggering high. Photo: Facebook
Without providing any solid statistics or research to back his claims, ZBVI 780am 'Honestly Speaking' radio show moderator, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has declared that drugs use amongst men and youths in the Virgin Islands is now at a staggering high. Photo: Facebook
BAUGHERS BAY, Tortola, VI - Without providing any solid statistics or research to back his claims, ZBVI 780am 'Honestly Speaking' radio show moderator, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has declared that drug use amongst men and youths in the Virgin Islands is now at a staggering high.

Mr Skelton-Cline made the claims in his opening commentary on the Tuesday, October 8, 2019, edition of his Honestly Speaking show. 

Drugs & the Caribbean 

"There's a high use of drugs. Marijuana is one of the chiefs forms but is no longer limited to just that, and let's be honest... clearly because where are located in the Caribbean... drugs has always been an issue but we have never been a people who use drugs," he told his listening audience.  

Mr Skelton-Cline further pointed out that given the porous borders of the Virgin Islands (VI), the territory, "oftentimes been used as a pass-through... and we ought to be having these conversations, not just dig our head in the sand and act like this stuff ain't happening," he said in accusing the people and authorities of ignoring the issues. 

"This has been a place where this stuff has passed through, but it looks like some of our young people, a generation or two, who getting high on their own supply and that is creating another ill," he lashed out. 

According to the man of the cloth, "We're losing a generation in this particular area, and those who are not smoking the thing or snorting the thing are getting caught up in our criminal system."

Concerning

The commentator said it remains concerning what implications of a new generation of drug users could spell for the territory's social system. 

"I am deeply concerned about the social challenges that we are going to face when our young people in a disproportionate fashion get hooked on this stuff and the havoc it creates to them and their families".

19 Responses to “'There's a high use of drugs' in VI - Skelton-Cline”

  • snail (14/10/2019, 10:06) Like (22) Dislike (2) Reply
    Guess he just crawl out his shell....people in the BVI have been using drugs for Y E A R SSSSSS
  • Hmmmm (14/10/2019, 10:23) Like (19) Dislike (6) Reply

    2019 and you lumping people who smoke weed in with ppl who snort coke? Some where in the world someone is making millions off marijuana, someone with an ailment is being remedied by marijuana, but here we locking up our future leaders for a small amount of vegetable material.

  • NICK (14/10/2019, 10:37) Like (32) Dislike (1) Reply
    you don't get hooked to marijuana. I think alcohol is much more dangerous than weed.
  • Eagle Eye (14/10/2019, 11:06) Like (53) Dislike (6) Reply
    There is a bigger drug call Christianity, shed some light on that please.I guess not, because you are to busy collecting poor people money.
  • wow (14/10/2019, 11:09) Like (7) Dislike (0) Reply
    Schuppes! He need to get out the fast lane!
  • Don’t be a slave to the system (14/10/2019, 11:35) Like (20) Dislike (0) Reply
    I wonder if he knows that pharmaceutical drugs is fixed to make you keep spending money at the doctors office when all we have to do is take marijuana or CBD oils... I know because I use CBD oil that I import
  • Bulldawg (14/10/2019, 11:52) Like (9) Dislike (1) Reply
    Too much consumption of alcohol is really worst than smoking a few ounces of marijuana.
    Too much of anything is not good for you.
    They need to also stop selling alcohol if they want to cut out marijuana.
  • dude (14/10/2019, 12:30) Like (7) Dislike (2) Reply
    Weed is actually good for you.
  • nonsense (14/10/2019, 14:17) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
    I'm sorry Nick but your are wrong people do get hooked to Marijuana as its the gateway drugs that leads to more intensified drugs such as crack, cocaine and heroine. Anyone who are addicted to or is an recovering drug use always tells your their first drug usage was Marijuana. I also agree with you on Alcohol as that's legal and back in the early 1930's it was illegal and not its legal just lick cigarette which is the worst.
    • VIlander (14/10/2019, 16:37) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
      Your data is outdate Ronald Reagan BC you should update your text books every decade. That gateway thing has already been disproven 20yrs ago. The gateway drugs are nicotine & alcohol, marijuana is non addictive. But do people like being healthy and less stressed and tense? Yes they do so they continue to use it but crack, cocaine & heroine fall under a different category and only the USA categorize marijuana as a Class A drug like those, b/c it is contrary to facts and science but fits their agenda to imprison young black males. Your premise I understand but you miss several factors there such as their nicotine use, so if you go back and ask those same addicts you refer to you will find nicotine prior to the crack, cocaine &/or heroine
    • Nonsense it is (14/10/2019, 19:48) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      Nonsense is all that you wrote!

      The propaganda about “gateway drug“ is sooo stale
    • Laugh (16/10/2019, 18:03) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      you can get hooked to posting nonsense online too.

      The first "drug" we all had was spinning around in circles as children.

      "we never been a people who use drugs" ummmm hellooo??

      GO back to Africa to the roots of our people and research.
  • ann (14/10/2019, 15:22) Like (2) Dislike (2) Reply
    Too much weed on the blocks
  • Wow weeeee (14/10/2019, 16:03) Like (0) Dislike (2) Reply
    Tell him to ask his uncle the bishop about the land that he got in para quita bay from the other government to grow marijuana if my memory is right it was between 4-10 acres ,what Desmond we live amongst guess dine bags will be sold in church .anything for wealth my god .whats next ?
  • Hmm (14/10/2019, 20:11) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Its crack to, you see how some of them does look suck out!! Thats not weed thats crack!! And other bad drugs.
  • Really? (15/10/2019, 07:44) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Whaddya expect? Ain't much for youth to do around here. We don't invest meaningfully in education or in creating futures for them. Instead, they get to grow up seeing rampant corruption, cronyism and total lack of consequences among the grown ups. Having said that, Mr S-K's piece is just an opinion since he has no facts to back him up with.
  • Windy (15/10/2019, 12:12) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Skelton-Cline using something more than marijuana !!


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