Havana, April 17.- Cuba maintains a policy of zero tolerance for drugs, which is why it supports the fight against drug trafficking and promotes the education of the population and prevention as coping strategies.
According to Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, head of the specialized anti-drug body of the Ministry of the Interior, although this Caribbean nation is not a producer of these substances, its geographical location places it at an intermediate point between the countries of origin of drug trafficking (to the south). and the largest consumer (the United States, to the north).
He stated that as a result of operations against drug traffickers on the high seas, the caches that, dragged by sea currents, reach the Cuban coasts are often launched, mainly to the north of the provinces of Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas, Camagüey and the northern keys of Ciego de Ávila (in the east).
In the western portion of the island, these calls along the northern coast occur mainly in the Mariel area, province of Artemisa, and to the south in Pinar del Río, the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud and the Ciénaga de Zapata, in Matanzas, the officer explained to the national television program Hacemos Cuba.
However, Cubans residing abroad have attempted to introduce drugs by sea and air, mainly in the western part of the country, and reported that in 2023 three operations of this type were intercepted.
He explained that such activity affected several international airports on the Caribbean island last year, through shipments of unaccompanied cargo and parcels.
Poey stressed that Cuba has the technology and trained personnel to detect the entry of all types of drugs.
For the specialist in psychiatry and community mental health, Alejandro García, there is a tendency to decrease the ages of consumption, now identified between 13 and 14 years old, and in women.
This is a global trend but one that was not seen in Cuba; as well as polydrug use (mixture of different substances), which makes the clinical symptoms more complex.
The expert with more than 20 years of experience in caring for patients addicted to drugs said that there is a low perception of danger in families, and called for them to be alert to symptoms of intoxication that usually appear as a result of consumption.
For his part, the Vice Minister of Education, Eugenio González, stated that schools have a diagnosis and characterization protocol in which students and teachers are instructed to detect these cases.
He pointed out that parent meetings in these centers should be a space to influence the community, and educational institutions should become a scenario for risk identification, although the cases in schools have been very specific. (PL) (Photo: Taken from the Internet)
