Cyrus warns youths of drug danger

Retired prominent surgeon and former director of the Botanic Hospital Dr Cecil Cyrus has urged youth to stay away from harmful drugs, especially marijuana, cocaine and its derivatives, tobacco, and others.{{more}}

Cyrus, accompanied by his wife Kathryn, was speaking to an appreciative mixed audience of mainly young people at the Church of Christ building at Kingstown Park on Saturday, 16th March. The youth group 3H-YOUTHS (Happy, Helpful, Holy) sponsored the session.

Outlining the medical, social and psychological effects of drugs, the doctor expressed his strong opposition to any suggestion of legalizing marijuana. He pointed out some telltale signs of detecting when one is on drugs and gave some suggestions as to what can be done to prevent young people from flirting with the dangerous substances. In venting his alarm at the suggestion that persons may be peddling certain “club drugs” among some primary school children, he urged its discontinuation.

While delivering the lecture and responding to numerous questions, Dr. Cyrus used the opportunity to show slides depicting the serious effects of substance abuse, gleaned from his decades of medical practice in Northern Ireland, England and here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.