Characteristics and social representation of ecstasy in Europe - Irefrea

04) Ensuring that water is available.05) Envisaging the presence of first aid personnel.06) Evaluation of the possibility of placing health personnel in the macrodiscos.07) Provision of areas to attend to people in an altered state.08) Prevention of alcohol abuse by a correct pricing policy and stopping sales, 1 or2 hours before closing.09) Fixing closing hours for all establishments in order to prevent the emigrationphenomenon.10) Encouraging entry to discos between 22.00 and 24.00 hrs.11) Encouraging the use of public utilities and the possibilities of staying overnightclose by the discos.12) Envisaging a small percentage of the admission price being used to financeprevention campaigns.13) Envisaging annual training courses for disco personnel on substance effects andthe interventions which can be carried out.A subsequent objective of the project concerns the re-introduction of the operativemodalities of the services with the creation of specifically orientated groups, alwayswith the aim of monitoring the psychiatric changes in young people. It is essential toavoid Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres being identified as ideal services where tosend young people with these problems in order to avoid these young people beingstigmatized as drug-addicts.Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre personnel would be able to go out to meet thesepatients in different places such as juvenile centres, disco, pubs, for example. Theobjective is not to create new services but to provide assistance, in other words workerstrained specifically to confront the problematic of these young users.A great part of these initiatives is already being carried out in our country, at leastin the industrialised regions in the north of Italy where there is the highest concentrationof discos. They are, in many cases, experimental initiatives, carried out autonomouslyby each service, volunteer groups and social centre but with the aim of promoting coordinationof interventions to provide a more widespread diffusion in the country.The preventive campaigns include videos (with interviews with users describing thedetrimental effects), posters, informative leaflets, brochures, etc. In addition, they arethe results of local initiatives and often have a wide diffusion among the juvenilepopulation. The quality of the material is being progressively adapted to the demandsfor this type of campaign whose target group is the population fringe of the very youngwhich is difficult to reach through the normal media (magazines, newspapers, televisionnews, etc.). Recently, with the assistance of the cultural intermediaries, informativeleaflets or brochures have been prepared using a language more in keeping with that ofits potential readers and with graphics conceived to attract attention. The socialrepresentation transmitted by these messages is somewhat neutral or does not involvepassing judgements on the substance or on the person using it although it is154