Ahead of the Youth Forum, the participants were asked to familiarise themselves with the content of the International Standards on Drug Use Prevention and to prepare tasks in six worksheets to acquire a basis of knowledge that will be extended at the Youth Forum.
As we approach the big event, the participants have already learned more about the science behind evidence-based drug use prevention.
See what our participants found interesting!
"We already know that tobacco, alcohol, inhalant, and other products are called “legal highs”, but these drugs sometimes are more dangerous than illegal drugs."
"Looking at this issue from another perspective, it is quite painful that substance use already has devastating effects on a person's life, while at the same time making the individual vulnerable to other diseases such as HIV."
"My Aha Moment: I learned about the Etiology Model – how substance use is a result of interactions between environmental factors and the characteristics of individuals."
"I am well shocked to see the global percentage of drug users at a staggering 5.4%, 269 million of the population. If I had not seen the flyer I would expect an estimate of 100 million or so."
"It surprises me how important the environment is to the child development and how this will influence your behavior and beliefs."
"The study and knowledge of epidemiology are essential to our fellow youth as every individual should act on health, safety, and well-being."
"On one hand, family factors (the micro-level) constitute a strong and direct influence on children and thus may seem like the obvious answer to the question about most influence. However, structural and cultural factors (the macro-level) probably constitute a great impact on the micro-level factors, and therefore may explain even more of the variation in children's drug use."
"Adolescents create their identity in society, they discover many things around the world including themselves and their feelings. In this stage, they are very sensitive to every trigger, so they must be well-guided and well-educated."
"I like the idea of educational programs that rise the level of awareness in the community, people who have social, economical, psychological problems (and this is the kind of people we deal with in substance use prevention) often can't and don't go to school and therefore they can't have academic learning themselves so it's our role to go to them and educate them and it's also vital issue to give them social, economical and psychological support."