Yesterday was celebrated worldwide on International Day to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking promoted by the United Nations. The General Assembly established this celebration in 1987 because despite the redoubled efforts of the international community, the world drug problem continued to seriously endanger the health and public safety and well-being of humanity, particularly children and children. young boys. Today the situation has not changed much
At present, society truly does not know what they are being and what the negative aspects of an extension of consumption may be in the future. It seems that we have not just believed that any family is potentially exposed to the effects of drug use (among which is alcohol). In fact Today's consumers are people (some very young) who are integrated and in the short term will not suffer excessively serious medical consequences.
I liked this poster of a campaign carried out in Northern Chile, because it is true that (among other protective factors), adults are an example for young people with our behaviors. Gradually, society's alert about the phenomenon is diluted. In fact, according to the CIS barometer, drugs are falling more and more on the scale of concerns of Spaniards reaching the 25th position when in 1995, drugs ranked fifth below unemployment, terrorism, corruption and the economic crisis.
For the director general of the FAD, 'this invisibility of the problems of drug use causes social pressure, of the entire civil society, to go down and, therefore, the institutional response as well'
We have children who are growing up, and we know that the average age at which alcohol consumption begins is 13 years old, also that more than one million young people between 16 and 24 years old smoke daily. We cannot close our eyes to a reality that tells us that (in addition to alcohol, tobacco and cannabis) emerging drugs have a certain prevalence in nightlife and entertainment contexts.
Invisibilization of drug use problems:
It is true that we have very serious problems arising from a crisis that is causing the impoverishment of families, this may occupy a privileged place among our concerns. But if there is something really important is the future of our children, and their healthy growthThat is why parents should take care of all aspects that could alter a correct development.
In the collective imaginary, the stereotype inherited from previous decades - mainly the 80s - persists that the only problems that can cause drug abuse are framed within the socio-sanitary field or within public order problems.
However in the medium and long term, current consumers may suffer another series of very important consequences such as school failure, youth violence, socialization problems, family problems, etc.
But according to data from the latest survey of the Spanish Drug Observatory, drug use remains very significant:
Alcohol: 11% of Spaniards aged 15 to 64 claim to have consumed it daily in the last thirty days. And 63.3% have consumed in the last 30 days. 23.1% of the population claims to have got drunk in the last 12 months.
Cannabis: In 1995, 14.5% of Spaniards aged 15 to 64 had ever consumed it. In 2009-2012, this percentage has risen to 32.1%. As for the people who consume it daily, the percentage has increased from 0.7% in 1997 to 2% in 2009-2010.
Cocaine: In 1995, 3.4% of Spaniards aged 15 to 64 had ever consumed it. In 2009-2010, this percentage has risen to 10.2%. As for the people who consume it daily, the percentage has risen from 0.9% in 1997 to 1.6% in 2006.
Ecstasy: In 2009-2010, 0.8% of Spaniards aged 15 to 64 had consumed it in the last year.
This is the message that Ban Ki-moon (Secretary General of the United Nations Assembly) has given us during the celebration of the International Day we were talking about before. 'Our efforts to promote development and fight against drugs and crime will be more effective if they are based on partnerships with young people, civil society, governments and the international community. Working together, we can alleviate the sufferings of millions of people and rid countries, communities and families of the scourge of drugs and crime 'And the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC ) Yury Fedotov said yesterday that 'criminal networks have evolved and have become multinational and multiregional companies that generate billions of dollars. UNODC estimates that the proceeds of drug trafficking are equivalent to 2.1 trillion dollars, or the equivalent of 3.6% of World GDP '
I just have to remember that drug use continues to be a problem with very serious social, health and personal dimensions. I think we need to take it back as a concern, and also that we must get involved to carry out our educational work with a view to prevention, this will be a good investment for the future of our families.
