Drug projects for 2006

THE Ministry for Health and Consumer Affairs will establish a new Drug Dependency Autonomous Unit in 2006 directed at young adults on the islands, aged between 14 and 30 years old. The aims of this initiative are to detect those youngsters who are in a risky situation when it comes to drugs, and also to offer services to help these addicts. This announcement was made yesterday by the head of this department, Aina Castillo, during a presentation of the 2006 budget.
This pioneering initiative in the Balearic Islands will be made possible thanks to a 500'000 euro investment, which will be needed to pay for staff costs, material and furniture for the centre. The Minister for Health and Consumer Affairs also added that at the end of this year she will be publishing a guide, which will give parents precise and clear information on how to act when they suspect their children have taken drugs. During 2006 there will also be a series of informal parental talks on this subject.