UNODC is cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS
Project G86 : 10 Key Prevention Messages
1. Keep the door closed to drugs. Say "No Thanks"
Do not open the door to any kind of drug or substance use. Drugs are bad for you, your family, your friends and the society. When offered please say 'No Thanks' and
feel good about it. Once you open the door to drugs, you are likely to continue using it. Experimenting can be dangerous and the drug habit, once initiated, appears to stay.
2. Make the right choice. Say 'I decide, I wont take drugs'
Life is full of choices. Making the right choice is important. So, when making your choice, don't choose substances like alcohol or drugs that can ruin your health, your family and your future. You may feel pressurised by your friends, peers, relatives and circumstances, but the decision to hold out against this pressure, is yours alone.
You decide that you will not take drugs.
3. There is nothing "cool" about doing drugs, most people don't.
There is nothing "cool" about taking drugs. Contrary to perceptions, taking drugs does not make anybody popular or attractive. Many people who take drugs, are deserted by friends and the society, eventually leading to complete loneliness and a bleak future with drugs being the only friend.
4. Avoid Gateway Drugs like alcohol and tobacco. They may lead to harder drugs.
Legally available products such as Alcohol (beer, wine, whisky etc) and Tobacco (cigarettes, gutka, chewing tobacco etc) are also drugs. Known as Gateway Drugs, they are socially acceptable and easy to obtain. Apart from being harmful to health they can lead to the use of harder drugs like solvents, cannabis, heroin etc.
5. You never know when you get addicted. So don't experiment.
Nobody uses drugs to become an 'addict'. Drug abuse is a progressive illness and you don't know when you get addicted. You may begin by experimenting to feel good, to belong, to de-stress or feel more mature. But soon this experiment can turn into addiction. People may sometime feel that they are in control of their drug habit. But in reality, they are really not, because there is nothing that can predict addiction.
6.When you feel low, look for good company and activities, not drugs
When you are feeling low or are emotionally disturbed, indulge in activities that keep your mind positively engaged and/or share your feelings with someone who can guide you correctly instead of offering you drugs for solace. Taking drugs never improves the situation that you wanted to escape from, in the first place; instead it only prevents you from seeking solutions. The escape is always short lived and you are back into the real world with greater problems.
7. Drug use may lead to unprotected sex and expose you to HIV.
Using alcohol or other drugs, clouds your judgement and may lead to unwanted or unsafe sexual activity. You become reckless and drop your inhibitions; seek sexual pleasures which could be unprotected because of lack of will or/and motor control. So, even when you are aware of the dangers of HIV/AIDS and the merits of the condom, you can be exposed to HIV.
8. Drug addiction is relapse-able. Hence prevention is better than cure.
Prevention is much less expensive than treatment. Though treatment works, the success rate of people being completely cured is low. Four out of five people, who go in for treatment, never manage to kick the habit completely and relapse into abusing drugs again.
9. Don't stigmatise the addict. Only proper medical and emotional support will help.
Drug addiction is like any other disease that needs proper medical care. An addict must be taken to a detoxification and rehabilitation centre. Treatment works but it takes time, patience, spiritual, emotional and physical strength on the part of the users and care givers. Family support at this time can make or break the recovery. Any attempt to stigmatise and discriminate the drug user can only makes matters worse.
10. Talk about drugs. Don't brush the issue under the carpet.
Parents, Teachers and Elders should know more about drugs themselves. They should discuss issues around drugs openly, frankly and in a non judgmental way, in family, school and other community settings. Get more elders, icons and community leaders, who can be good role models, to talk openly on the issue.
