Italian Say No To Drugs Team Takes on the Heroin Capital of Europe
A group of concerned parents is taking matters into its own hands to create a drug-free Milano, enlisting music-lovers, soccer-players, city officials and national police in the fight to end drug abuse in their city.
In a city dubbed the heroin capital of Europe, a group of concerned parents came together to form the Milano Say No to Drugs team under the auspices of the Foundation for a
They began by blanketing the greater Milano area with thousands of The Truth About Drugs booklets.
Then, making their debut with a bang, the team held a massive concert in the legendary Milano disco “Alcatraz,” where performers ranged from emerging folk artists to national comedians. Concert MCs informed a crowd of more than 600 that they were now part of a drug-free movement, as they stood in a venue as well-known for the drug consumption of its audiences as it was for its international artists.
Anti-drug sports events followed—everything from tennis to motocross carrying the message for a drug-free world—until the team went for the Italian jugular: soccer.
Anti-drug sports events followed—everything from tennis to motocross carrying the message for a drug-free world—until the team went for the Italian jugular: soccer.
Say No to Drugs Milano formed its soccer team and began competing, earning more than 20 trophies in all. Then, launching anti-drug tournaments of their own, the team played against local and state police, inmates and correctional officers at a nearby jail, and even members of the city council.
Publisher of the national police magazine L’Impegno, (The Commitment), caught wind of The Truth About Drugs and requested that one booklet be placed in each of the 10,000 magazine copies distributed bimonthly to police across Italy.
One senior police officer has since become an enthusiastic advocate of The Truth About Drugs and distributes booklets that feature the national police logo alongside that of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. He also uses program materials in prevention lectures to students throughout the Lombardy region.
Through their multi-pronged attack, the Say No to Drugs Milano team has distributed more than 350,000 Truth About Drugs booklets, bringing the reality of a drug-free home for their children closer with each one.
FACTS
THE STARTLING TRUTH: About Synthetic Drugs
1 in 9
TWELFTH GRADERS
in 2012 in the U.S. reported using synthetic cannabinoids in the previous year.
20%
MORE
new synthetic psychoactive substances were introduced in the last year.
1,512
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
related to Spice in 2015. That’s a 5X increase since 2014.
650
DESIGNER DRUGS
have flooded Europe over the last ten years.
11,000
ER VISITS
were associated with synthetic marijuana over a one-year period in the U.S.
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