Family Affairs Commission: Anti-Drug Preventive Measures

DAMASCUS, (ST)_ Participants in the workshop held yesterday by the Syrian commission for family affairs and population focused on issues pertinent to smoking, drugs and the role of the media in disseminating awareness about the dangers of addiction on the family and the community, alike.

The participants called for integration and unity of efforts between ministries and educational and community institutions in spreading awareness about the dangers of addiction on mental and physical health and its devastating effects on the family and the community.

They also pointed to the need for drawing societal preventive plans and adopting community educational measures for ensuring balanced growth of the personality of young people and coordination between the agencies involved in terms of combating,manufacturing or promoting, and trade of drugs and providing appropriate treatment for the addicts.

Head of the Commission Hadeel Asmar said during the opening of the workshop that a guide book will be issued for young people to raise their awareness on the danger of smoking and drug abuse and an extensive media plan will be launched in cooperation with competent authorities of several ministries, youth associations and NGOs.

Other speakers talked about the importance of raising self-rejection level among young people and empowering them to workout smoking and drug abuse, calling on families to monitor the behavior of their children in their teens, especially as drug phenomenon involves political, economic and social dimensions that threaten the unity and cohesion of the community.

They also pointed to the importance of developing a national approach to a unified program on prevention of smoking and drugs among young people, through the development of life skills, and reviewed Syrian laws that criminalize involving and implicating the child in drug abuse, alcoholism and smoking.

According to a source in the Interior Ministry, an amount of 528 kg of anesthetic hashish, 5.27 kg of Hiroin and 2. 8 million Captagon pills were seized during 2014.

The workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Health, Interior and Social Affairs, the Syrian Red Crescent and several NGOs.

Noteworthy, Syria has ratified all international conventions relating to the fight against drugs ranging from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 to the UN Convention against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, besides being an active member in regional and international committees on the fight  against drugs.

Tomader Fateh