PDF (Lessons learned in drug abuse prevention: a global review)

NATIONAL
National Programme for Integral Prevention
Education –PRONEPI
REGION:
Central America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
Organisation: SECCATID –
Executive Sectretary of the
Commission against
Addictions and Illegal
Trafficking of Drugs
TARGET GROUPS:
● Children/Youth in school
SETTINGS:
● Primary and Secondary
schools
IMPLEMENTING AGENTS:
● Teachers
● Education professionals
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Integration of drug abuse
prevention into the school
curriculum, and training of
teachers
COST: US $35,000 for the
year 2002
DURATION: 7 years and
continuing
Training session in the use of the ‘Integral Prevention Education’ Manual.
Background:
The problem of drug consumption in Guatemala has grown rapidly in recent years,
especially amongst young people, and particularly amongst ethnic groups such as the
'mestizo' and 'garifuna'. Recent analyses of teenage populations shows that lifetime
prevalence for cocaine consumption varies between 2 % and 5%, whilst that of
cannabis use varies between 4% and 6.7%. 1
In 1992, Guatemala formed the Commission against Addictions and Illicit Drug
Trafficking (CCATID), a body in charge of policy development in the fields of prevention,
treatment and rehabilitation from alcohol and drug dependency. CCATID is directly
accountable to the vice-president, and relies on SECCATID for the implementation of
programmes.
Guatemala is seeking to prevent the abuse of addictive substances in formal education
environments and within the community by strengthening the actions of institutions
outside the Government in order to develop, support and intensify prevention programmes.
A National Anti-Drug Plan for 1999-2003 was approved by CCATID in 1999.
Guatemala is used as a transition country for the transportation of drugs from South
America to North America. Despite its transition country status, analytical studies of
the problems generated by drugs in Guatemala have shown that the population is not
exempt from the consequences of drug abuse. 2 Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs
consumed most frequently, followed by cocaine, marijuana, tobacco, inhalants and
tranquillisers. 3 In 70% of the areas surveyed in a cross-national study, 1.8% to 2.8%
of the adolescent population were consumers of cocaine; in 85% of the country,
between 3.2% and 5.1% of the adolescent population were marijuana users; in 90%
of the country, 3.2% to 7.6% of the adolescent population used stimulants; and in
95% of the country, between 2.5% and 7.6% of the adolescent population were
abusers of tranquillisers. The predominant age bracket for drug consumption was
between 15 and 18 years. 4
Sources: 1 www.undcp.org/mexico/ country_profile_guatemala.html
2 Internal document from SECCATID prepared by Graduate Manuel de Jesús Ramírez, Financial Administrative
Director, Guatemala, 2001.
3 SECCATID. 1998. ‘Encuesta DUSI’. A study conducted in 20 departments of Guatemala. Sample group: 7,037
54
adolescents of both sexes between the ages of 12-18.
4
Study carried out by the European Commission for CEPAL Latin America. Annual Report of Statistics 1998,
Ministry of Education.