Drug addiction is a contemporary form of slavery, Pope Francis lamented   
   Thursday, emphasizing that a rehabilitation which restores victims' joy   
   and dignity is much needed.   
      
   Drugs are a wound in our society.  A wound that traps many people in the   
   networks. They are victims have lost their freedom to fall into slavery;   
   slavery of a dependency we can call chemistry, the Pope said Nov. 24.   
      
   Its certain, he said, that drugs consist of a new form of slavery, like   
   many others that plague man today and society in general.   
      
   Pope Francis spoke to participants in a Nov. 23-24 workshop organized by   
   the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences titled Workshop on Narcotics:   
   Problems and Solutions of this Global Issue.   
      
   The two-day gathering focused on the history of drug use and the current   
   global situation, the global impact of the drug trade, methods of   
   prevention such as education, and the risks of medicinal and   
   recreational drug use.    
      
   Francis has spoken out against the drug trade frequently, naming it as a   
   primary cause of greed and corruption contributing to the disintegration   
   of society.    
      
   In his speech to workshop participants, the Pope noted that there is no   
   single cause that leads to drug use, but that the factors are many, and   
   often involve the absence of family, social pressures, propaganda from   
   traffickers, and the desire to have new experiences.    
      
   Each person addicted to drugs brings with them a different personal   
   history which must be heard, understood, loved and, as soon as possible,   
   healed and purified, he said, cautioning attendees not to fall into the   
   injustice of classifying the drug addict as if they were an object or a   
   broken mess.   
      
   The dignity of the person is what we have come to encounter, he said,   
   noting that the high numbers of addicts isnt surprising given the wide   
   range of opportunities available to achieve a superficial happiness.   
      
   However, rather than bringing satisfaction, this ephemeral satisfaction   
   in the end becomes a venom, corrodes, corrupts and kills, he said. The   
   person is destroyed and, with them, everything around them.   
      
   Pope Francis stressed the importance of knowing the full scope of the   
   drug problem, which is essentially destructive, above all in terms of   
   the vast production of drugs and the system of distribution.    
      
   The cartel networks enable the death of a person, he said, noting that   
   it is not necessarily physical death,  but psychological death, social   
   death in the discarding of a person.    
      
   Distribution systems, even more than production, represent an important   
   part of organized crime, Francis said, explaining that a key challenge   
   is knowing how to find a way to monitor the different circuits of money   
   laundering and corruption, because they are united.   
      
   The only way to do this, he said, is to trace the line that runs from a   
   small-scale drug market up to the most sophisticated forms of laundering   
   that nest in financial capital and in the banks which are dedicated to   
   the laundering of dirty money.   
      
   Francis recalled the story of a judge he knew in Argentina who had   
   several thousand kilometers of border territory under his jurisdiction.   
   As soon as this judge began working seriously to eradicate the problem,   
   he got a letter in the mail with a photo of his family saying nothing   
   more than your son goes to this school, your wife does this.   
      
   When you one begins to search and climb up through the distribution   
   networks, one finds that word of five letters: mafia, the Pope said,   
   because just as in the distribution the one who is a slave to drugs is   
   killed, so too whoever wants to destroy this slavery is killed.   
      
   In order to curb the demand for drugs, Pope Francis said strong efforts   
   are needed, coupled by extensive programs aimed at promoting health,   
   family support and education, which he said is fundamental.   
      
   Integral human formation is the priority because it gives people the   
   ability and means of knowing how to discern, so that when the moment   
   comes, they can discard the different offers and help others.   
      
   This type of formation is particularly important for the vulnerable in   
   society, such as children and youth, he said, noting that its also   
   valuable for families and others who suffer from various forms of   
   marginalization.    
      
   However, the Pope lamented that the problem of drug prevention as a   
   program is always slowed down by a thousand and a factor of the   
   ineptitude of governments: by a sector of the government here, there or   
   there.    
      
   Drug prevention programs are almost non-existent, he said, adding that   
   once the problem of drugs has advanced and settled into society, its   
   very difficult to overcome.    
      
   Rehabilitation of the victims was also something brought up by the Pope,   
   which he said is a priority in terms of restoring to the victims the joy   
   and dignity they had lost. While it might not be assured by the state or   
   its legislation, recovery will be difficult and the victims could be   
   re-victimized, he said.   
      
   Pope Francis closed his speech by encouraging attendees to continue   
   their work and to realize, within your own possibilities, the happy   
   initiatives you have undertaken in the service of those who suffer most   
   in this field of war.   
      
   The fight is difficult, he said,  noting that whenever one gives face   
   and begins to work seriously, they run the same risk as the judge from   
   Argentina, of getting a little card with some insinuation.   
      
   However,  he stressed that despite the risks,  we are defending the   
   human family, defending the youth, children...Its not a matter of   
   momentary discipline, its a thing that is projected forward.    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
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