Over 4,500 people turn to Caritas in one year over drug and alcohol problems

An average of 379 persons per month sought help from Caritas for problems related to drug and alcohol abuse in the year up to last month, Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech said.

The total included 65 persons who had asked for help for the first time, he said, speaking at San Blas, Zebbug on Friday during an event which marked the termination of a rehabilitation course for 15 former drug and alcohol abusers.

Mgr Grech said that each month there was an average of 166 youths attending the various programmes organised by Caritas for abusers.

At San Blas, there was a monthly average of 86 persons attending either one of the various phases of rehabilitation, including residential, semi-residential, re-entry and after-care.

Mgr Grech said there was an average of 10 persons per month attending the Prison Inmates Programme. Youths charged with drug related offences are sent to attend the Caritas programme instead of serving time at Corradino Civil Prison.

Mgr Grech said most persons seeking assistance from Caritas were aged under 25, with the youngest aged 17. Some of them are parents. Many of those who call at Caritas do so after years of dependence on drugs, having started experimenting from the age of 12/13 years.

He said a number of them have dual or multiple diagnoses suffering from depression, anxiety or behaviour disorder. In such cases, Caritas resorts to specialised treatment by professionals in the field.

Mgr Grech also pointed out the difficulty rehabilitated youths face when they try to seek employment because, he said, they were still suffering the stigma of their past.

Mgr Grech said that experience achieved during the last 18 years showed that many of the youths who go through a rehabilitation programme uninterruptedly, embraced moral and social values and had a stronger sense of responsibility than many other youths. However there could be exceptions.

Another problem, Mgr Grech said, was the lack of suitable social accommodation for those youths who after completing the rehabilitation programme had nowhere to go.

Mgr Grech said that to add to this were court cases which had been pending when they started the rehabilitation programme at Caritas.

There were cases where residents of San Blas who had rehabilitated themselves with success, wee sentenced to a prison term.

However, Mgr Grech noted, judges often recommended that such persons are sent to serve time within the Caritas Prison Inmates Programme.

He said a lot of understanding was being shown by the judiciary so that persons who are accused of drug possession for personal use would be given the chance to rehabilitate.