I don’t know if copybooks are even a thing for children nowadays but I remember that one of the very first times I saw or heard anything about drugs was when I saw “Say no to drugs and be proud of it” printed on the bottom of the front cover of one.

In all honesty, I still have no idea why this specific phrase was dominating local stationery in the late 1990s but I do remember asking my poor, patient great-aunt what drugs were and why we should say no to them.

I can’t remember what she told me but, given that she was already in her 70s when she sat down with me to copy chunks of Id-Denfil and had lived a largely sheltered life, I strongly doubt she was able to give me a satisfactory answer.

And it wasn’t just her either. Even in secondary school, we weren’t really prepared much for the world outside. I mean, we did keep being told that drugs weren’t a good idea but we got precious little more information than what was emblazoned on our copybooks.

The result was that, by the time I hit the streets of Paceville, all I knew was that, if drugs should come my way, I should probably decline them. Oh, and never to leave my drink unattended on a night out. Like sex education, there were no great discussions about the ins and outs; you were just expected to abstain or else.

The problem is that, even in the time period I’m talking about, over two decades ago, drugs were already widespread, which is why I’m always flabbergasted when people act surprised to read articles like the one published this week by Times of Malta stating that ‘Valletta is a coke den’.

Valletta isn’t increasingly becoming a playground for drugs: the entire island has been drowning in cocaine for at least the last five years, with people from all socio-economic groups indulging. In Valletta, it just happens to be more noticeable because it’s the capital city and one of the few places left where people can still meet up for a drink, given that Paceville has practically become a red-light district.

Everyone is out here talking about a growing concern like they found out about it yesterday when this worry has been a full-grown adult for the past 30 years- Anna Marie Galea

We have been reading reports and articles for years stating that cocaine is being taken at weddings, baptisms, holy communions, village feasts and even after funerals, and, yet, nothing is done. It’s just pushed under the carpet.

Everyone is out here talking about a growing concern like they found out about it yesterday when this worry has been a full-grown adult for the past 30 years. The mind well and truly boggles.

It would be really nice if our governments took a break from squabbling and causing enough scandals to keep our minds constantly occupied and got down to what they’re meant to be doing: educating, governing, enforcing and protecting.

There’s so much to do in the fields of sexual health, drugs and domestic violence, just to name a few, and our authorities just keep dodging the hard stuff and refusing to drive real change. No one cares about lip service awards when the burning issues are not being grabbed by their roots.

Those copybooks weren’t the best place to put down anti-drug sentiments but they were still better than nothing.