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<span style="font-weight: bold">Marijuana is the drug of choice in the Caribbean </span>
Research on the status of drug use has revealed a "high" level of marijuana consumption among school students in the Caribbean.
The information has been released by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, which has collated national figures from member countries.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Among the 13-17 years age group, Dominica recorded the highest prevalence rate, </span>with more than one tenth of secondary school students admitting to smoking cannabis.
Some of the higher figures: Dominica (11.6%), St Lucia (9.5%), Antigua and Barbuda (8.1%) and Grenada (7.8%).
<span style="font-weight: bold">Haiti (0.6%) and Suriname (2.0%) have the lowest average usage</span>.
In fact, marijuana remains the drug of choice in the Caribbean overall.
In the past year or so, among those aged 15-64, the prevalence rate in the Caribbean comes in between 4-6.7%.
That's higher than South America (3.4%) and Central America (2.4%) but behind North America (10.5%).
Cigarettes
<span style="font-weight: bold">When it comes to tobacco, Dominica is also at the top among high school students</span>.
Almost 8% of 13-17 year-olds say they've smoked cigarettes, with Suriname and St Lucia not far behind.
The prevalence rate is lowest in Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda.
Regarding alcohol, six in every ten students in St Lucia between 13 and 17 admitted to having a drink in the previous month, in Dominica that falls to half.
Even among students aged 14 and under, the rate is 50% in some countries.
The Commission, which is an arm of the Organisation of American States, also says the use of inhalants among students in some countries of the Americas becoming alarming.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Cocaine</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Use of such substances at least once during past year was over 10% among teenagers in countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago followed closely by Barbados and Guyana. </span>
The Commission says additional studies are needed to identify more precisely the types of inhalants being used.
On cocaine, use in the Caribbean is low. Among students, Guyana and Jamaica report a prevalence rate at 2% or above.
The commission cautions that more information and research is needed on specific population groups to get a better understanding of the drug problem and its impact.