The ‘bush tea’ which an old lady gave him was not the reason why he tested positive for drug use earlier this month.
That was the story which a participant in the Drug Treatment Court gave initially, during a review session yesterday.
Several participants, all of whom have committed offences, were recommended by their attorneys or magistrates, and are undergoing rehabilitation programmes at the Psychiatric Hospital, Verdun House or the Centre for Counselling Addiction Support Alternatives (CASA).
The aim of the session was to review their progress so far.
The ingredients the participant recalled the old woman mixing, were pear leaf, blood root and lemon grass. However, when Magistrate Graveney Bannister asked how cannabis came to be in his system, he said he did not know whether some had gotten into it then, although he doubted whether the woman would know anything about cannabis.
He eventually admitted that he was under “some pressure” recently and had smoked.
Bannister urged him not to let his group down because he was important to it. “So when you are under pressure next time, find something else to do or some other tea to drink.”
Another client, who also relapsed, admitted that “this ain’t easy; it is a test for me. I know smoking all my life, Sir.”
His counsellor added that he had some issues which caused him to relapse but he has shown a willingness to work hard and improve.
Bannister also recalled that the same participant had gone from a “very high reading” (of cannabis in his system) to zero.
“I see the results and I don’t like it so I know what I have to do,” the man said. “I live in the ghetto and drugs all ‘round me,” he remarked.
“It is just a little hiccup and next time it gine be zero again.”