Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announcing a campaign against drugs on Thursday, September 8, 2022. Photo: Public Ministry.
Thursday, September 8, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced the launch of the campaign “Drugs destroy your family,” which will be developed by the Public Ministry to educate Venezuelans “about the serious damage caused by drugs, not only to consumers, but also to their families.”
“The other objective is to go after micro-trafficking, whose main target is children and adolescents in public places,” said the prosecutor in reference to the prevention, educational, training and media campaign.
“We are making official the launch of a campaign to warn about the normalization of drug use among large sectors of the population, especially adolescents,” said Saab during a televised broadcast.
He explained that the campaign will be carried out in coordination with the National Anti-Drug Superintendency (SUNAD) and other agencies, highlighting the holding of a forum on the subject, among other activities.
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100 talks will be held in schools across the country by the Prosecutor’s Offices attached to the Anti-Drug Directorate, in coordination with SUNAD.
In addition, there will be demonstrations on anti-drug work with the canine brigades.
He specified that these activities will be directed and focused especially on children and adolescents. For this reason, they will apply didactic information explaining the nature of narcotics, the profile of consumers, and the consequences of their consumption in its personal, family, work, school, and social aspects.
Pernicious effect
During his statements, the attorney general reflected on the pernicious effect of drugs, not only on the physical and mental health of the consumer, but also on the people around.
“Drug use affects the will of the person,” said AG Saab. “It damages your self-esteem, your way of communicating, and your commitment to your life goals. It alters values, habits, customs, objectives, and goals of the individual, isolates the consumer from his family group, his friends, his community, and society in general. It produces anxiety, depression, and aggressiveness.”
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In addition, AG Saab drew attention to the attraction of so-called narconovelas [television series glorifying drug dealers and gangsters] for young people, which try to whitewash these criminals. These programs apply “a kind of coarse makeup to great criminals who, for that life, have destroyed the lives of hundreds and millions of people around the world.”
“They normalize criminal behavior… They sell the drug issue that destroys your family, paralyzes training to enter a world of dreams of futures,” Saab continued.
He added that it will be part of the work of the Public Ministry “to be attentive to the new forms of crime, on the one hand, and also to know the new strategies that criminal mafias use to extend their pernicious influence.”
Impact of drugs in the world
In the speech presenting the campaign, Attorney General Saab highlighted data provided by the United Nations “World Drug Report.”
In this regard, he pointed out that, according to the aforementioned report, in the last decade deaths from drug use have doubled throughout the world, to around half a million people each year.
Among other data, he highlighted that the percentage of adolescents who perceive cannabis as negative was reduced by 40% in the US and 25% in Europe, despite the fact that long-term consumption is linked to cognitive damage.
(Últimas Noticias) by Degnis Merlo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
