The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) convened the 3rd Drug Demand Reduction Committee Meeting to advance policy and program directions covering youth resiliency, drug abuse prevention education, community-based rehabilitation, recovery and reintegration, and drug-free workplaces.
Central to the discussions was a more connected approach to drug demand reduction, encompassing prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, and social reintegration as a continuum. This includes strengthening Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Programs to provide continuity from identification, screening, assessment, and referral through appropriate interventions, continuing care, family support, livelihood and employment, and sustained recovery.
Within this continuum, greater attention is being placed on strengthening protective factors among young people. The proposed national youth resiliency program brings together life skills, mental-health promotion, family strengthening, school connectedness, peer support, digital literacy, and early identification and referral mechanisms. Existing networks, including the Sangguniang Kabataan, are also being considered as channels for reaching and engaging young people within their communities.
This youth-centered direction extends into the education sector. The Committee endorsed for Board consideration a proposed resolution supporting the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Learner Support Framework, inclusive of the National Drug Education Program. Further work on sustained drug abuse prevention education in basic and higher education will draw from relevant findings of the 2023 National Household Survey and emerging concerns involving technology-influenced drug-related behaviors and New Psychoactive Substances.
Beyond schools and youth settings, the discussions covered Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation and Drug-Free Workplace policies, particularly their implementation, monitoring, compliance, and reach. Taking off from an updated inventory of CBDRPs implemented by local government units will provide a clearer basis for assessing existing programs and identifying areas for further coordination and support.
These strands will be brought together into an integrated framework aligning the programs and initiatives of member agencies. The Committee will also pursue measures of youth and recovery resiliency that move beyond activity and participation counts, with the resulting work informing the proposed two-year and five-year drug resiliency roadmap.
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