 The workshop has been hosted by the Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs in collaboration with the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, CCAD. Increasingly in the Latin American and Caribbean subregion, there is a urgent trend of trafficking and use of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, or NPS. The rate at which this is occurring is a great challenge in both public health and national security of countries. CCAD is providing support to OAS member states in creating the necessary legislative and regulatory environment and program structures to address the challenges presented by the illicit production and trafficking of these substances. Rafael Parada is Chief of the Supply Reduction Unit of CCAD. As you might know, CCAD is the consultative and advisory body of the Organization of American States on the Hemispheric Drug Issue. It is a forum for open discussion on drug issues and promotes coordinated efforts to effectively address the drug problem across the Western Hemisphere. Within CCAD, the Supply Reduction Unit seeks to strengthen the capacity of OAS member states to control the illicit production, manufacture trafficking and distribution of drugs, as well as to reduce the availability of precursor chemicals used to manufacture these substances. Lily Cheng Soto, representative of the OAS General Secretariat in Senusia, is hoping that the fourth workshop will serve to build capacity among participating agencies. In the last couple years, the topic of security has been of real relevance between the government and the OAS and the embassies, and I am very excited that we're having this seminar, this training this week, because we are always talking about walking the talk and talking the talk. So this is part of what the OAS is trying to bring to you, and I hope it's really useful and effective for you working here in Senusia, that the spending of the week here with us does make a difference in your daily functions. National epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Faswa stated that drug use disorders continue to be a growing cause of short and long-term health problems, economic cost and social burden. It has mattered that psychoactive substances, whether natural or synthetic, are compounds that act on the nervous system, causing alterations in the functions that regulate thoughts, emotions and behaviour. Drug dependence, therefore, is difficult to control due to the compulsive drug use and craving, leading to drug seeking and repetitive use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences. It is more than simply a bad habit, and like many other chronic illnesses, it requires professional medical care and understanding of the patient. The effects of drug abuse are not limited to individual, and it extends to the entire society affecting relationships, increasing crime and unemployment. Synthetic drugs are currently one of the biggest threats to our generation. These products may be regularly abused for their euphoric or psychoactive effects and are readily available in many different forms over the counter and on the Internet. This session today is very timely and important as we seek to raise awareness in our society of the effects of these dangerous drugs. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs Ms. Jenny Daniel has extended gratitude to the original and international partner agencies in helping St. Lucia in achieving its national objectives in substance abuse reduction. And of course, we look towards additional research and lessons learned together with our partners, together with our local agencies to ensure that we achieve all these aims and objectives. In this regard, I'd like to thank OASICAD for their financial and technical support to us at the ministry as we endeavour to combat this growing threat. And to the participants, I welcome you and wish you that you would find this opportunity very enlightening and an opportunity to grow and to develop technical expertise that can be used in the future going forward. To this end then, I wish everyone here a successful seminar and a very good week as we move towards a fight against substance abuse. Meanwhile, Acting Coordinator of the Substance Abuse Advisory Council, Secretary at SACS, Mrs. Natasha Lloyd-Philips says the National Training Seminar for the Detection and Identification of Synthetic Drugs coincides with the observance of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed annually on June 26. So our intention is to understand this new dimension to the drug markets, this new focus of macro-trafficking of drugs, which is not what we're used to, is not what we normally focus on. And as a result of that, we have brought together stakeholders from various branches that would have some sort of role, some sort of response to the drug industry. So we have Forensic Lab, for example. We have the police. We have fire. We have social transformation officers. We have persons within the medical profession, the public health profession as well, because we all place a different lens on the response and collectively we can create a more robust and a more agile response to what we know is starting to pop up in our culture. In September 2023, CCAD, in collaboration with SACS, will be hosting a training workshop for relevant allied agencies and partners for the building and maintenance of the National Early Warning System for drugs. On the communications unit of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, Julia Peter reporting.