10% of Saint Giles Hospital patients admitted due to substance abuse

About 10% of the patients currently at Saint Giles Hospital are admitted due to cases related to substance abuse.

That’s according to the Acting Superintendent, Doctor Kiran Gaikwad who says most of those cases are related to marijuana use but there are also cases relating to the use of methamphetamine or ice as well as glue.

Doctor Kiran Gaikwad

Last year, Police also revealed that close to 100 of the more than 500 patients admitted at St Giles Hospital between May 2017 to April 2018, were linked to substance abuse.

Saint Giles Hospital currently has 74 patients looked after by 200 health staff.

Doctor Gaikwad says the growing concern is that most of those cases involve teenagers.

A report published last year by the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council found that there were 1,416 cases of drugs being found in schools.

There were 148 cases where marijuana was found and 11 cases of hard drugs which include methamphetamine and cocaine.

According to health officials, the most common substance abused are marijuana, methamphetamine, cigarettes, kava and alcohol but methamphetamine has now made it to the list of the common substance abused.