Although the Bougainville Crisis officially ended with the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001, its adverse impacts on MHPS in Bougainville society linger on. Substance abuse, particularly the smoking of cannabis in the form of dried leaves and stems of the marijuana plant, is very widespread in Bougainville, despite the illegality of its cultivation, possession and use. There is now reasonable evidence from longitudinal studies that regular cannabis use predicts an increased risk of schizophrenia and of reporting psychotic symptoms.[2]
Marijuana's cultivation and sale is regarded as a quick way to make money in Bougainville's stagnant economy compared with the hard labour required to produce copra, cocoa and garden produce. On 7/1/2020, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Post Courier newspaper reported that the Bougainville Police Service had arrested three people from the Kunua-Keriaka Constituency suspected of growing 5,700 marijuana plants on four hectares of land. This area, at high altitude in the Emperor Range, is reported to be the main marijuana supplier to many parts of Bougainville, including Tinputz, Wakunai, Torokina, Buka and Arawa.
To provide an alternative to the detention in already-crowded jails of marijuana-using Bougainvillean youths, the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Bougainville office and the Corrective Institution Service (CIS) are sponsoring a village-based programme of youth offender rehabilitation. Under this programme, male and female youths convicted of marijuana use work in groups to upgrade community assets such as village health centres and community schools, and participate in community sports. During work breaks, trained counsellors informally educate the young offenders on the mental health risks of prolonged marijuana use.
[1]The mental health and psychosocial impact of the Bougainville Crisis: a synthesis of available information. David Tierney, Paul Bolton, Barnabas Matanu, Lorraine Garasu, Essa Barnabas and Derrick Silove. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2016; 10: 18.
[2]Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder. Hall, W. and Degenhardt, L. World Psychiatry, 2008 June; 7(2): 68-71.
Photo: Young marijuana plants