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Work Group Reports on
Demand Reduction --
Summary of Overview,
Discussion, and
Recommendations
Youth
Facilitators:
- Dr. Soledad Sambrano, USA
- Director, Individual and Family Studies,
Division of Knowledge Development and Evaluation,
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Dr. Raúl Zapata Aguilar, Mexico
- Director of Prevention, Youth Integration Centers
Presenters:
- Dr. James Kooler, USA
- Deputy Director, California Mentor Initiative Office,
Prevention Services Program,
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs
- Ms. María Elena Castro, Mexico
- Director, Institute for Preventive Education
and Risk Attention
Overview:
Dr. Kooler began by noting that although Mexico and the United States have launched major initiatives to address substance abuse by youth in the past decade, the problem persists. In Mexico, he claimed, 11 percent of school students have consumed drugs and 30 percent have been involved in some type of risk-taking behavior. In the U.S., 55 percent of eighth graders and 79 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol. He indicated that a major factor probably involved in the behavior of U.S. youth is that 42 percent of their waking hours are unsupervised.
Ms. Castro began by noting that Mexico is a country with 25 million young people aged 12 to 24, which represents 25 percent of the total population. Approximately 70 percent of these youth do not attend school and proportions for variables such as employment, underemployment and vagrancy for this group are unknown, as is the percentage of young nonstudents who abuse drugs. She also pointed out that this is the most vulnerable group of Mexican citizens who fall into drug use.
Regarding demand reduction, she stated that in Mexico many important activities have been directed toward young populations, including epidemiological research on students; the development of registry systems and better qualitative research methods; the use of prevention models in schools that include group work to strengthen protective attitudes and safety net creation; the development of teaching materials for preadolescents, adolescents, and youths; the establishment of internment institutions, self-help groups, and half-way houses for young addicts; and the launching of full scale public awareness campaigns aimed at personal development and early detection. Nevertheless, she claimed, the list of challenges continues to be larger than the list of accomplishments, and the most important remaining challenge is to develop a policy that integrates and enforces the work of all sectors of our society to achieve equity and quality of services for youth. She stressed that this focus must include all youths: those in school, the under-employed, those in streets, at work aces, and those in the communities across the country.
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