«The tragedy of addictions, of lives destroyed by drugs» by the presence of organized crime requires a commitment that is choral, constant and articulated. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella underlined this by speaking, unscheduled, at the opening session of the VII National Conference on addictions.
“It is a commitment of great importance because it is a front of freedom”, said the Head of State, so that “young people are free and protagonists”.
Mattarella also wanted to express his “appreciation for the organization of the conference and the methods of its conduct”. The preparatory work made it possible to “collect experiences, opinions and reflections” making it possible to work “of important and significant breadth” on the “fronts included in the contrast strategies” because in the face of a tragedy such as that of addictions it is necessary to act with a “conscious, articulated, choral commitment, constant in determination”.
Meloni: “The commitment of the institutions is unanimous”
«I want to express heartfelt thanks to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, I already did so this morning when the president arrived, because clearly his presence testifies more than that of anyone else that the commitment of the institutions is unanimous, to free those who have fallen into the yoke of addiction and to build effective treatment and rehabilitation paths». Thus the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the seventh national conference on addictions, in Rome. “I am also grateful to the Holy Father – she added – for the words of hope and encouragement, after the historic hearing in the Vatican on the World Day against Drugs”.
Pope Leo XIV: “The web among new forms of addiction, a symptom of the discomfort among young people”
In recent times, “new forms have been added to addictions such as drugs and alcohol because the growing use of the internet, computers and smartphones is associated not only with clear benefits but also with excessive use which often leads to addictions with negative consequences for health, which have to do with compulsive gambling and betting, with pornography, the almost constant presence on the platforms of the digital world”. Pope Leo XIV underlined this in the video message for the VII National Conference on addictions, promoted in Rome by the Presidency of the Council.
«And the object of addiction becomes an obsession, influencing behavior and daily existence. These phenomena, more often than not, are the symptom of a mental or internal discomfort of the individual and of a social decay of values and positive references, particularly in adolescents and young people”, underlined the Pontiff who recalled how the time of youth is “a time of trials and questions, of searching for a meaning for existence and of choices regarding the future”.