Positive Changes and Support: Keys to Overcoming Addiction
Undersecretary López-Gall highlights the public health perspective, emphasizing the need for support and treatment. Learn about the National Addiction Prevention Strategy, community involvement, and the importance of positive changes in relationships.
The Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo López-Gall, said that more than 46% of people treated for addictions go to health services for methamphetamine use due to its enormous addictive potential, which inevitably hurts the emotional, physical, social, and family spheres.
In the section "Addictions and Collective Health,", during the morning press conference headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Undersecretary López-Gatell Ramirez stated that for this government, addictions are a public health problem, where the demand from people living in addiction "is not a criminal matter, but a matter of public health and social health".
He pointed out that the National Addiction Prevention Strategy, Together for Peace, has reached more than 35 million people and is based on pillars such as the action of 42 thousand people trained in detection and linkage to mental health care services; community and social participation; security and social cohesion; education, culture, and sports; urban improvement; and social programs.
Positive changes in family behavior patterns and friendship circles, with professional and social support or accompaniment, contribute to the abandonment of addiction by users; "if violence disappears or there are role changes in the relationship with youth, there is an important opportunity to recover these young people towards a world without addictions", he emphasized.
Referring to amphetamines, he explained that they are colloquially known as amphetamines, speed, or MDMA and are marketed as tablets, white powder, capsules, and even in liquid form. They can be ingested, injected, inhaled, or smoked and generate a euphoric sensation and sudden energy.
He commented on the danger of consuming these drugs because they are a set of stimulant substances of the nervous system that modify the perception of the environment and reduce the possibilities of educational and labor inclusion.
The infiltration of drug dealer groups into nightclubs, official or illegal parties, festivals, and carnivals can encourage the consumption of methamphetamines. This situation, when combined with elements like physical or verbal abuse in the home or social circles of friendship, makes it easier for the country's young population to use drugs in general and amphetamines in particular.
