Malta’s first policy on drugs is in the making: it will examine legislation, education, treatment and services, and is the result of close collaboration between all the stakeholders. The policy will be launched in the next few weeks for public consultation.

But as we await the document, which is bound to offer ways and means how to combat this modern scourge, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina announced the results of a report on drugs and drug addiction for 2005, which is however based on data collected a year earlier.

The figures released confirm that the drug problem should be a matter of great concern. For one thing, it emerged that there are 1,100 known daily heroin users while it is estimated that there are another 500, perhaps more, who are “unknown”.

When this is compared to other countries, Malta’s six per 1,000 rate (for people aged between 15 and 64) is on the high side, making it clear that heroin abuse is still one of the major problems in this regard.

Of course, heroin is not the only drug that is abused: cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy are other common drugs that are also abused. In 2004, the year under review, there were six deaths related to drug abuse, that is two per 100,000 adult population.

The government and other agencies are doing their utmost to help drug abusers but it is clear that the problem is hard to overcome.

What needs to be done is to control the situation as much as possible, but even this is somewhat difficult.

Many of those who fall victim to drugs do so at an early age. They start experimenting with the soft drugs before moving on to the harder ones. It is then difficult for them to get out of the habit, and they need all the support they can get.

This support is available, but it is really up to the drug abuser to look for it and get it.

Families and real friends can play a major role in enabling drug abusers to seek the help they need to get rid of their problem.

There have been many who were capable of doing so, and this should serve as an encouragement to others who right now feel trapped in a world they think they cannot leave – they should know that it is possible to stop taking drugs and should therefore start doing something about it.

While all the support necessary should continue to be provided for people who have a drug problem, it is also important to stop youngsters from picking up the habit in the first place. Prevention is better than cure, it is rightly said.

Students today get more education on such matters. Older generations did not, and therefore it is possible that we might see a reverse in the trend in the coming years. Some might think that this is just wishful thinking, but at the same time it is apparent that today’s primary and secondary school students are learning more than mathematics and English at school.

This can be seen in other matters. For example, some 10-year-olds are going home to tell their parents to stop smoking and are making it difficult for them each time they light a cigarette.

Others are learning to separate waste accordingly and push their parents to do likewise.

These are all positive factors which prove that, when caught young, there is a greater possibility that, once they become adults, these students will not take up bad habits.

It is therefore imperative for education authorities – be they government, Church or private – to continue insisting in this sense.