Students of the Foránea No.1 José Vasconcelos high school during the first day of anti-addiction talks/workshops.  

Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- Addiction prevention workshops will be given in public and private high schools in the municipality to raise awareness among adolescents in Chapala.

«Many things can give meaning to your life, but drugs will never be one of them,» was said during the launch of the program on March 14, at the José Vasconcelos Secondary School Number 1 in the municipality. The age of first substance use dropped from 18 to 10 years of age in the last 12 years.

The work team of the Municipal Commission Against Addictions, formed by counselors Luis Manuel Ramirez, Jaime Humberto Cortes Rios, Juan Carlos Garcia, and six other integral supporters are dedicated to informing the students of the municipality about the hazards of drug use. 

During the workshop they discuss that addictions not only depend on synthetic or natural drugs or medicines. Today’s children tend to become dependent on technology and the internet as well.

The first phase of the program took place from March 14 to 24. Seven hundred and thirty-three students divided into 21 groups, about half in the morning shift and the rest in the afternoon from the José Vasconcelos high school were trained through talks and workshops informed Luis Ramírez, in charge of the coordination.

The next stage will be to instruct the adolescents of Technical High School 83 to learn to say «NO» and to know how to choose their friends well, thus preventing them from falling into the temptation of bad habits, said Ramirez. 

The program, coordinated by the State Council for Prevention Against Addictions and the Ministry of Health, is executed by the Municipal Commission Against Addictions and its main objective is to raise awareness among young people when it comes to making decisions in their daily lives.

Translated by Nita Rudy