The Spanish society of pathology Dual brings together 300 youths in Caixa Forum a forum on the effects of drug use within the II International Congress of Dual pathology.

-program talk about drug ”, the social work ” la Caixa ”linked to the itinerant exhibition of the same name, aims to sensitize young people and prevent the drug from a point of view scientific and comprehensive; i.e. offering resources of information, guidance and training to families, the educational community, health professionals and young people themselves. The objective is to provide all the necessary information to make responsible decisions

Barcelona, October 2011.- the Secretary of education policy of the Department of education of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Lluís Font, director general of the Foundation ” la Caixa ”, Jaume Lanaspa, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)Nora Volkow; the President of the Spanish society of Dual pathology (EDPS), Néstor Szerman; the head of the service of Psychiatry at the University Hospital of Vall d ’ Hebron and President of the second Congress of Dual pathology, Miquel Casas, and the Assistant Director-general of drug addictions of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Joan Colom, participated last Wednesday in the Forum talk about drugs ” organized by the Obra Social ” la Caixa ”.

The Forum has brought together 300 youth who, during the first part of the morning, have been distributed in three workshops with scientists specializing in specific substances, cannabis, cocaine and alcohol. Subsequently, and in the course of a debate with Dr. Nora Volkow, youth have been able to raise their doubts and concerns and present their reflections on issues concerning the consequences of the consumption of these substances for the brain and health.

All the students had previously worked on class key aspects of the Neurobiology of addiction, in the framework of the programme talk about drug ”. As well as in the Forum on Wednesday was intended that young people can deepen the scientific aspects of each of these substances. Specifically, the participants in the meeting come from Catalan secondary centres.

The DRA. Nora Volkow is Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), in United States, and is an expert of international reference in the field of research on drug addiction. This doctor is mainly recognized for research on cerebral dopamine system, focusing on the study of brain drain of people addicted. His works have been documented changes in system of dopamine which affect the actions of the frontal regions of the brain involved in motivation, the deseo-impulso and pleasure, as well as the deterioration of the action of dopamine in the brain due to ageing.

The Forum talk about drugs ” he framed at the second Congress of pathology Dual 2011, organized by the Spanish society of Dual pathology (EDPS) between 5 and 8 October and the presence of more than one thousand experts in addiction and health of worldwide fame.

Scientific information as prevention: talk about drug ”

is it true that we lose neurons when we consume drugs? are addiction hereditary? marijuana causes brain damage? These are some of the many questions raised by the students to scientists, who have taken the opportunity to dispel some myths about drugs. Responses of specialists have become apparent as revealing facts that drug addiction is a disease and we never know how will react in our brains and our bodies; toxic substances activate the system of pleasure in the brain, not their capacities; social relations may increase the risk of using drugs, but can also prevent this – something that we must promote among all – and younger a person when you stop taking them, more capacity shall have his brain to recover.

This approach thus pioneer led by the Faculty of biology, seeks to foster the prevention of the use of drugs among young people from scientific learning the basics of addiction and the effects of drugs in our brains, our body and our behavior. This idea reinforces the message and help to understand and rationalize the drug problem through information objectively and free moralisms. Both its theme and its methodology, the educational programme talk about drugs ” can be integrated as a curricular activity more in the classrooms of secondary education.

According to the State survey on drug use in students of secondary education of 2008 (ESTUDES), alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people. In fact, 81.2 per cent has consumed alcoholic drinks once in life, 44.6 per cent tobacco, 35.2 per cent cannabis and 5.1 per cent cocaine. With regard to the proportion of regular users of these substances, i.e., those that have consumed them once in the 30 days prior to the survey, alcohol is the most common substance:

Alcohol
58.5%

tobacco
32.4% (14.8% daily)

Cannabis
20.1%

cocaine
2.0%

the new form of relationship of young people with drug receives the name of recreational use ”: it is a consumption of substances, legal and illegal, occurring normally associated with leisure time, especially in the night during weekends. 71% Of boys and 69 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 years engaged your entertainment night departures every weekend. Adolescence is the stage in which tend to produce the first contact with drugs. Age of onset in the consumption of these substances has decreased and now begins to experiment with tobacco and alcohol at the age of 13. Between 14 and 15 years, young people tend to start between 15 and 16, cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens and ecstasy and cannabis use.