ET Rapid Response joined other key players in the industry for Drug Awareness Week, to try to tackle the giant that is plaguing society: Underage substance abuse.
Drug Awareness Week and The Importance of Community Involvement
Drug Awareness Week has reminded us again about the impact of alcohol and drug dependency on our youth. Because of this, Brighton Beach SAPS decided to take a closer look at how substance abuse is affecting our communities.
Capt. Louise Le Roux, Brighton Beach SAPS corporate communications officer, has said underage drinking does not affect only the drinker, but society as a whole. The effects of alcohol are damaging to both the body and our ability to make sound decisions, and thus impulses shorten and incident reports rise.
Capt. Le Roux provided, “The objective of the initiative was to create awareness on the repercussions of under-aged drinking for a youngster, which included health implications of under-aged drinking and the criminal capacity for when a child is intoxicated. The risk of alcohol use or dependency be it by a male or female child remains the same.”
Drinking and drug use among teenagers and youngsters exposes them to a frightening range of risks, from kidnapping and assault to trafficking and even murder. Such consumption generally bleeds into adulthood, leading to an entire generation and portions of communities being socially crippled.
Aside from the social and safety implications, such substance use often leads them to actions that include property damage, robbery, assault, sexual crime, and homicide.
According to Capt. Le Roux, “Various role-players engaged community members of the Mandela informal settlement within the sector of Clairwood, situated within the Brighton Beach policing precinct. Five hundred ‘Youth At Risk’ alcohol awareness information guides were distributed to parents, guardians, caregivers and the youth while some information guides were pushed underneath doors for residents, who were not home to ensure they were included in the educational initiative as well,” she said.
It was emphasized by Capt. Le Roux that via collaboration with companies like ET Rapid Response, Brighton Beach SAPS, and other security and law enforcement teams, we managed to make the residents aware of the initiative and begin the conversation that is so desperately needed.
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