SOUTH AMERICA:
Getting Real About Underage Drug Consumption
Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES,  (IPS) - Out-of-control drug abuse among South American youth -- myth or reality? Could societal perception have blown the phenomenon way out of proportion? Have we zeroed in on this one issue at the expense of efforts to address the broader context of social problems like poverty and marginalisation?

These provocative questions were posed by Martin Hopenhayn, a researcher in the Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at the 4th National Conference on Drug Policy that wrapped up Friday in Buenos Aires.

The Chilean academic, a philosopher by training, says the symbolic representation of the problem greatly exaggerates the real prevalence of drug abuse in the region, thereby masking the root problems hidden underneath.

The two-day meeting, organised by the Intercambios Civil Association (for the study of and attention to drug-related problems) at the National Congress building, brought together officials, legislators, researchers and social workers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Uruguay.

Hopenhayn summed up ideas discussed by other panelists, such as the increase in alcohol consumption among children in the region, the recent boom in popularity of cocaine base in Argentina and Uruguay, and the incorporation of synthetic drugs into middle-class party culture in Argentina and Brazil.

The panelists agreed that, rather than prosecuting consumers, public drug policy should focus on providing harm-reduction information while at the same time recognising that drug use is frequently a manifestation of underlying social problems.

"Cocaine base is the public face of a social problem -- it's just the fuse in the powder-keg. The main problems in our countries are still poverty and marginalisation," said Milton Romani, secretary general of Uruguay's National Drug Council.

Romani brought up reports from a study conducted in his country on cocaine base, a concoction of macerated coca leaves and solvents, used to prepare cocaine hydrochloride. He explained that the drug, which is smoked, hit the streets in Argentina and Uruguay just over five years ago.

"It's used in various social classes, but the poor are most vulnerable and suffer the worst consequences," he said. He also pointed out that, for lack of employment alternatives, families or neighbours in marginalised sectors form networks to deal the drug.

Argentine social worker Victoria Rangugni, who works with Intercambios, agreed that the drug is relatively new to Argentina. However, the expert -- who coordinated a similar study with cocaine base users -- emphasised that "it's not just the poor who are using it."

Rangugni explained that middle class users who smoke cocaine base do so in greater privacy and tend to use it in moderation, thus minimising the potentially severe health damages. "This form of consumption suggests that the state needs to intervene and provide mechanisms that help users protect themselves," she emphasised.

And while alcohol consumption in general was not opposed, participants from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay expressed concern over the increasing incidence of underage drinking and how alcohol-related accidents and violence are pushing up mortality rates.

"Underage drinking patterns in Brazil have changed drastically," said Pedro Godinho Delgado, national coordinator of the Brazilian Health Ministry's Mental Health Programme. "Youth are starting to drink at younger ages and getting drunk more often," he told IPS.

Marijuana use in Brazil has plateaued, but ecstasy and crack use is on the rise in cities. "The most vulnerable -- the poorest -- smoke crack, because it is the cheapest," he explained.

Hugo Míguez, a psychologist with the Under-Secretariat of Addictions Issues in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, noted that more beer is being consumed in the subregion and suggested that easier accessibility, combined with growing social tolerance, are factors that contribute to excessive consumption.

"If a teacher earns 300 pesos per month (100 dollars), and an advertising executive 15,000 pesos per month (5,000 dollars) how can we expect teens to be able to exercise good critical judgement?" he said. Míguez reported that surveys conducted in 2005 among high-school students aged 15 to 17 revealed that 60 percent drink alcohol.

Of these, 20 percent had "been drunk" at least once in the previous two weeks. The survey also described advertisements for home deliveries of alcohol and energy drinks -- which should not be mixed. Yet 26 percent of the students reported having combined them, unaware that this intensifies the intoxicating effect.

"Prohibition is not the answer; the alarming problems are abuse and social tolerance, and the failure to realise that this kind of drinking is associated with the violent or accidental death of 30 out of every 1,000 young people," said the expert.

Romani said that in Uruguay, one out of every four secondary school students admitted to having been drunk at least once in the previous two weeks.

Lastly, Argentine sociologist Ana Camarotti, a researcher at the University of Buenos Aires, presented a study on party-goers at raves, in which 61 percent of those surveyed said they had taken ecstasy or other synthetic drugs (such as LSD or "poppers"). In these marathon parties where people dance for hours to electronic music, generally in open areas, fewer than 30 percent of party-goers were found to be younger than 20, he said. Of the total number of attendees, 70 percent worked and 64 percent had some level of post-secondary vocational training or university studies.

"The ‘Just say no' message would not be effective in this sector where, unlike in the case of cocaine base, the effects are viewed in a positive light. Meanwhile, harm-reduction policies developed in the Netherlands are yielding good results," said the expert.