Combating drug abuse

The society in which we are living is based on “profit”, not “gratuitousness”, and the human being is considered as an instrument to be used, as an element to take advantage of or eliminate if not useful.Our society forces our teenagers to look for ever-new emotions and consume them in the same way as products; it eradicates their cultural roots and suffocates their expectations. Individualism and self-advantage are imperative. Economic profit is the aim of life.

Young people react in different ways: some resign themselves and adapt to the situation, trying to save themselves only. Others cover the distress they are living in with drugs. If there is no real interest in life, life can be easily thrown away to avoid suffering.

Drugs are nothing but a way to escape from themselves, from a reality which can neither be faced nor accepted. Drug abusers do not accept themselves because they feel they are not accepted. Drugs are a false response to human needs. They destroy creative and moral abilities; they destroy hope.

The Comunity Pope John XXIII has experienced through the years that the problem of drug abuse can disappear if young people are given the opportunity to experience and realise positive and non-utopian ideals.

APG23  participates in the network of NGOs of VNGOC (Vienna Non- Governmental Organization (NGO ) Committee on Drugs ) has joined the “Beyond 2008 Forum” and participate in the meetings of the CND (Commission on Narcotic Drugs ) and the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) .

Documents

The Therapeutic Communities in the Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII