The spread of drugs and the involvement of an increasing number of people in their use, especially from among young people, is one of the global problems for the 21st century that all countries of the world had to face without exception. To combat this evil more effectively, and to attract attention and inform the world's population, the International Day against Drugs was established.
The history of the International Day Against Drugs
The International Day against Drugs is celebrated annually on June 26 in many countries around the world. This day was chosen by the UN General Assembly in 1987, although some attempts to influence the turnover and use of illicit drugs were made even earlier. Already from the beginning of the twentieth century, the issue of the impact of psychotropic drugs on the self-awareness of the individual, her health, as well as the connection of drugs and other types of crimes, was occupied by specialists around the world. In 1909, the work of the Shanghai International Opium Commission was held in China, where the harmful effects on people of opium and possible ways of suspending its supplies from the countries of Asia were discussed.
Later, the problem of the use of narcotic drugs for non-medical purposes began to take on a global scale. As the various drugs were studied, it was found that drugs not only give a brief sense of pleasure, but also completely subordinate themselves to the personality, pushing a person to antisocial behavior and committing crimes. In addition, drugs adversely affect the demographic situation in the world, since the younger generation is more vulnerable to involvement in their use: adolescents and young people. The average age of a drug addict in the world is 20 to 39 years.
Finally, narcotic substances are associated with several other international problems. First, it is among drug addicts that the most rapidly spreading diseases of the present, such as AIDS and HIV, as well as other diseases that are sexually transmitted or through blood and contaminated syringes, are spreading most rapidly. The second, no less important international problem is the impact of rapidly enriched drug cartels on people's lives in different countries and even the policies of some states. For example, agricultural activities in some areas may be completely related to the cultivation of plants for further production of drugs, and workers of such farms are under the control of criminal groups.
Events on the International Day Against Drug Use
On this day in many countries of the world specialized organizations are carrying out activities aimed at informing the population about the problem of trafficking in narcotic substances. Particular attention is paid to the coverage of the effects of drugs in the environment of the younger generation. To this day rallies, round tables, work of propaganda teams and other enlightening and sports-mass actions are timed under the aegis of struggle against the use and a turn of narcotics.