Guyana has officially established an Early Warning System (EWS) focused on new psychoactive substances (NPS), authorities announced on October 9, 2025. The country becomes the seventh in the Caribbean to deploy such a system, joining neighbours including Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Lucia.
The EWS—locally known as the Guyana Drug Information Network (GUYDIN)—is designed to integrate real-time data from law enforcement, health, forensic laboratories, and other stakeholders. The goal: to detect emerging, potentially dangerous drug threats before they proliferate or cause harm.
At the launch, Head of GUYDIN Curt Richards, who also serves as a technical officer at the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), explained that the system would “intercept and reduce” use of NPS by enabling swift sharing of information. The EWS aims not only to respond once damage is done, but to anticipate threats.
The system will link several government agencies: the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs, Guyana Forensic Sciences Laboratory, CANU, and international partners such as the Organisation of American States’ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and Italy.
However, CANU Director James Singh pinpointed the challenges that comes with such an initiative. NPS are often engineered to mimic the effects of traditional illicit drugs—such as marijuana, cocaine, or ecstasy—but are not listed under major international treaties like the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This gap allows synthetic drug manufacturers or traffickers to bypass legal restrictions. Singh noted that some NPS products are disguised as herbal mixtures, candy, or vaping products.
Representatives from CICAD warned that the threat of NPS is not hypothetical. In many parts of the Americas, including the U.S. and Canada, synthetic drugs and substances such as fentanyl—often mixed into other drugs—have triggered increased overdoses, toxic events, and deaths. They cited recent incidents in the Caribbean, including clandestine laboratories producing methamphetamine or synthetic cannabinoids, or seizures of edible candies (“gummies”) containing semi-synthetic cannabinoids.
