MONZA – “Serious prevention and training interventions are needed to combat drug use, the use of drug-sniffing dogs in schools resembles more of an electoral campaign.” This is what provincial councillors Vincenzo Di Paolo and Giorgio Monti of the center-left group Brianza Rete Comune affirm, commenting on the news of the “rental” of a drug-sniffing dog by the provincial police to carry out five visits to high schools to combat the circulation of drugs among students attending high schools in Brianza.
“The problem exists,” says Giorgio Monti, “but five individual interventions with a drug-sniffing dog will not solve it. And even investing the provincial police with this task is not the solution. The Provincial Police – according to Monti – should be strengthened in its proper functions, and greater synergy should be developed with local police and other law enforcement agencies. Over the years, we have seen few initiatives of this kind, and often the reasoning behind certain choices, such as collaboration with the local police of the Municipality of Meda, has not been understood.”
“The problem of drug use,” says Vincenzo Di Paolo, “should be addressed first and foremost by trying to counter the demand rather than the supply. In the case of young people, in this case high school students, only repressive actions are put in place, forgetting the importance of education and prevention activities.”
“We would like the Province,” concludes Di Paolo, “to promote, alongside police interventions, a series of training proposals on the dangers and health risks associated with drug use, with the schools themselves and by activating protocols with other entities working in this field. There is a discomfort that leads many young people to go down this path, and institutions should understand and take responsibility for this discomfort, avoiding showing only a repressive face.” (archive photo)
