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3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JULY 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Facts on drugs 26 June commemorates the UN's Wor;d Day Against Drugs and Illicit Traffick- ing. This year's motto is "Share Facts on Drugs, Save Lives". We, service providers in drug abuse and addiction, witness life losses on daily basis. Most often, these losses take place slowly, with lots of pain experi- enced by drug users themselves and family members. Then, there are lives are immediately through tragic acci- dents, mostly connected with traffic, overdoses and suicides, the most silent yet devastating of deaths, which seem to be on the increase due to the stress- ful, affluential lifestyle we are living, the types of drugs used, their potency and lack of support – even though we should be more connected. OASI Foundation has been on the ground for the last 30 years (since 1991). Our message and actions have been constant and consistent – sub- stance use has its harmful aspects and those who experience drug-related problems need help, not incarceration. Use of force has never worked when it comes to substance use. External agents can easily control the body, but the mind is impossible to master unless the individual finds a safe and secure point of reference to anchor themselves. People may be held back from drug use for some time under strict control and supervision, but they will eventu- ally heavily indulge in the substance of choice once the body is set free. Problematic substance use is not a matter of volition. The brain is hijacked by the drug and the individual has little control over behaviour until the next drug fix, which is usually followed by remorse, guilt and shame. The 2015 Treatment Not Imprison- ment Act (Chap. 537) was a huge step forward in addressing substance use, directing persons with drug use issues away from prison in cases of drug pos- session. But it does not address cases of persons who committed thefts, fraud, sold their bodies or drugs, amongst other things, in order to sustain their addiction. We not only need to find ways to direct problematic drug users towards therapy and treatment, but encourage them to maintain their fo- cus in the treatment process they are engaging in. Surely, persons need to be treated according to their individual needs, rather than through a rigid set of strict rules. Addiction is contingent on a multitude of factors and treating it requires patience and commitment from all parties involved in the recovery process. Cases that successfully reach a recovery stage are not the result of some magic formula, but of faithful en- gagement with professional processes, which include also lessons learned from mistakes. We need not waste time to start eval- uating our current policies, procedures and practices while monitoring their effectiveness against the concurrent drug trends before another life is lost. Maybe how many could have been saved! Again, there is no more time to waste. Have you ever pondered on the probability that the next dead drug vic- tim could easily be your son or daugh- ter, your husband or wife, your brother or sister? Christopher Bonnici OASI Foundation Matic report IT was indeed a Black Thursday St John the Baptist feast day for Europe in contrast to the light of the bonfire traditionally lit on the eve here in Mal- ta. Europe continues to slide down the chute into a quagmire of moral deca- dence straying away all the time from the truth of the Church's teaching and her one-time pristine Christian roots. If Prof. Isabel Stabile is carried away by this seemingly euphoric but decep- tive resolution (Matic), let me remind her that the decision of the majority on any given subject is not necessarily al- ways the right and just one, especially if coming from the only continent which is slowly but surely drifting away from Christianity. I would rather wait for the Universal Declaration of Man to declare this as a secular dogma. And even if one day this is endorsed, I would rather support the Apostles' exhortation "We must obey God rather than man" - Acts 5:29. Prof. Stabile's persistence in denying that abortion is murder is beyond belief. Her half-baked statement that women who resort to pill-swallowing are poi- soning instead of butchering any emer- gent living organism does not disqualify them as wilful murderers not short of crying to Heaven for vengeance. Perfectly valid proof of slaughter does not carry conviction to Prof. Stabile. She is ignoring reality but she can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality (Ayn Rand). Abyssus abyssum invocat! John Azzopardi Zabbar