Barbados Minister Warns of Youth Abuse of Over-the-Counter Medications

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde is sounding a warning about the abuse of over-the counter medications or leftover prescription drugs mixed into dangerous concoctions by young people.

The practice was causing concern for the Cabinet, said Forde, a pharmacist, adding that the Barbados Medical Products Bill, 2026, passed in the House of Assembly yesterday, was important to regulate the abuse.

He said the medication was acquired from some establishments that were not pharmacies and, using the Internet, young people researched the different combinations and their effects.

“Because those things were passed from regulatory bodies before you can go any place, once they’re commercial enterprises, you can go and take them off the shelf. Now, the danger in this, and that’s why I’m happy that this new law, when it’s passed, in this august Chamber . . . that it has that regulation where there will be officers, inspectors at any place that has a pharmaceutical product,” said the parliamentary representative for Christ Church West Central.

The oversight would target instances in which substances such as codeine and panadine and codeine, found in common medications, are mixed with Sprite and sweets to create something called “lean”.

“After they’re taking these products, they can’t remember the activities that they were involved in. I believe that this is one of the biggest fights that we must now, as a country, come together and unite and fight against – the polydrug use by persons in Barbados and, unfortunately, the young people in this country,” he told the House.

Some of the drugs were imported under the guise of vitamins and that is where the pharmaco vigilance becomes important, Forde added.

“This is where the vigilance at the level of your organisation speaks to having the labs to test. This is where the vigilance comes into play. Because if you are saying that it is yohimbe or ginseng in capsule form, when it is tested randomly, the lab report must come to show that it is indeed yohimbe, ginseng, or any other vitamin, and not methamphetamine, as is the case sometimes.

“That is how drugs are moved across borders in the world, in the international sphere. That’s how it happens across the world, by coming in under the guise of other medication,” he said.

Meanwhile, his colleague Dr Sonia Browne had concerns about items being removed from the shelves of establishments, especially harmful fade creams, being returned because of a lack of enforcement.