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Work Group Reports on
Demand Reduction --
Summary of Overview,
Discussion, and
Recommendations
Community Participation
Facilitators:
- Mr. Dan Fletcher, USA
- Special Assistant to the Director,
Division of State and Community Systems Development,
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Mr. José Castrejón, Mexico
- Director, Program Coordination
National Council on Addictions
Ministry of Health
Presenters:
- Dr. William B. Hansen, USA
- President, Tanglewood Research, Inc.
- Dr. Cristóbal Ruiz-Gaytán, Mexico
- Minister of Health in the State of Jalisco,
Coordinator of the State Council on Addictions
Overview:
The Community Participation work group shared the perspectives of other conference attendees on the importance of community participation. Dr. Hansen noted first of all that the term has multiple meanings. For example, "community" can be defined by geographical boundaries, commonly shared values, and agreed-upon needs, and it can mean different things to different government and civic organizations. He concluded, however, that the most important definition of community from the standpoint of prevention is the collective definition developed by the people themselves. Those actually involved in a community, he noted, should be the ones to define it. Beyond that, he claimed that participation is essential and that it involves action, structure, accountability, local determination, and both the formal and informal leadership of a community.
Dr. Hansen further maintained that substance abuse is a complicated problem with profound negative effects for all sectors of society. In his view, demand reduction requires simultaneous effort and shared participation by multiple sectors. The focus, therefore, must be on the lives of people where they live, work, and find leisure. Consequently, efforts and approaches must be based on the perceptions, needs, and realities in the community, and the members of the target community must be actively engaged.
Demand reduction requires simultaneous effort by multiple sectors, and shared participation is vital to having an effect on the problem.
Dr. Ruiz-Gaytán began by stating that in Mexico the drug dependency phenomenon is addressed at three preventive levels (primary, secondary, terciary). He noted that involving community participation in each and every one of these levels is fundamental, as are federal and state actions that will result in the improvement of communities' technical and administrative capabilities. Further, nongovernmental organizations and self-help groups also offer an array of experience and services to help reduce drug demand. The only way to fight the use and abuse of drugs that cause addiction, Dr. Ruiz-Gaytán concluded, is to strengthen the collaborations with each and every nation that is striving to build a common front to overthrow this world phenomenon whose political, economic and fundamentally social consequences have the potential to destroy a whole society.
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