Hesperian Health Guides
Preventing Drug and Alcohol Misuse
HealthWiki > Where Women Have No Doctor > Chapter 28: Alcohol and Other Drugs > Preventing Drug and Alcohol Misuse
Meet with people from your community and discuss why alcohol or drugs have become important in community life. How did the problem start? What makes people use more? Are there new pressures on community members that make it harder for them to control their use of alcohol and drugs? What can you do to make drugs and alcohol less important in your community?
Once you understand the reasons for the problem, your group can work to reduce pressures to drink or use drugs
A group of men and women in Chiapas, Mexico organized against alcoholism as part of their movement for democracy and social justice. They realized that people who drink heavily sometimes use force against others to get their way, just as the police had used force to control the community. The group gave warnings to individuals whose misuse of alcohol was hurting others and intervened when drunk men abused their wives. Alcohol played both negative and positive roles in the community. Shamans (spiritual leaders) often used sacred rum in their healing rituals. The group found ways to combat alcoholism and keep the spirit of their tradition by substituting nonalcoholic drinks in these rituals.
Helping young people resist alcohol and drugs
Many people who have drug and alcohol problems as adults began using them when they were young. Drugs or alcohol can seem like an easy way to have fun or escape from problems, especially if others are using them. Young people often feel confused and powerless about the many changes they must cope with—growing bodies, changing feelings, and new responsibilities. Young people are also influenced by many pressures, especially their friends, older people they admire, and advertising.
We can help young people learn to resist harmful pressures. Here are some ideas that have worked in many communities:
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| Find popular role models who speak out against drugs. Children may find the message more powerful if it comes from a person they admire. |
- Encourage the schools in your community to teach young people about the problems of using drugs and alcohol.
- Make it harder for people to sell drugs to young people.
- Organize to remove advertisements that make cigarettes and alcohol look glamorous and modern.
- Become a good role model. If you drink a lot or use drugs, chances are children around you will too.
- Talk to children about the problems drug and alcohol use can cause. They can then influence their friends.
- Help young people have fun without drugs and alcohol.
- Help children develop skills and self-esteem to resist the social pressure to use drugs and alcohol.