Rome, 26 Oct. (LaPresse) – “The media are often rife with highly evocative and persuasive messages encouraging the use of drugs, all the more so if one also uses certain social media platforms. These messages get through, and unfortunately, people whose development and maturity are still in progress end up taking them on board.” So said Alfredo Mantovano, Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister, in a live-streamed interview at the Festival delle Regioni currently taking place in Florence. “Unfortunately, exposure to drugs is linked to every form of deviant behaviour currently seen amongst adolescents. During the riots of 17 and 18 October, and also in the much more contained and localised disturbances of last weekend, we must not overlook an aspect that, unfortunately, has not received as much attention as the others, namely that many of these young people – or at least a certain group, as I do not wish to generalise – had taken drugs before engaging in acts of vandalism and looting,” stated Mantovano. ‘And it goes without saying that if I’m driving a car and cut the brakes, I’m bound to crash. Unfortunately, taking drugs is equivalent to cutting the brakes on behaviour – even in cases that may start from a desire for free expression and then degenerate into what we have seen.’
Cortei, Mantovano: “Many young people took drugs before resorting to looting”
Rome, 26 Oct. (LaPresse) – “The media are often rife with highly evocative and persuasive messages encouraging the use of drugs, all the more so if one also uses certain social media platforms. These messages get through, and unfortunately, people whose development and maturity are still in progress end up taking them on board.” So said Alfredo Mantovano, Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister, in a live-streamed interview at the Festival delle Regioni currently taking place in Florence. “Unfortunately, exposure to drugs is linked to every form of deviant behaviour currently seen amongst adolescents. During the riots of 17 and 18 October, and also in the much more contained and localised disturbances of last weekend, we must not overlook an aspect that, unfortunately, has not received as much attention as the others, namely that many of these young people – or at least a certain group, as I do not wish to generalise – had taken drugs before engaging in acts of vandalism and looting,” stated Mantovano. ‘And it goes without saying that if I’m driving a car and cut the brakes, I’m bound to crash. Unfortunately, taking drugs is equivalent to cutting the brakes on behaviour – even in cases that may start from a desire for free expression and then degenerate into what we have seen.’