Cries of anguish sincerely uttered usually strike home. There is none more sincere than Mgr Victor Grech, head of Caritas, the voluntary organisation which offers help to victims of drug abuse. There is no one who speaks out so frequently and eloquently about the multifaceted problem.
The Caritas sample shows that cocaine addiction increased by seven per cent. The use of heroin, the main drug, rose by 11 per cent
Grech was speaking close to the weekend in the Caritas graduation ceremony of people who successfully completed their rehabilitation programme offered by Caritas, at least the number of those who complete the programme, some 73 per cent, is heartening.
Less heartening is what the other numbers show.
The numbers, of course, are not merely that. Grech does not speak in the abstract.
Last year alone, 694 individuals sought help through Caritas, a seven per cent increase over the year before, and a staggering 34 per cent rise since 2004. Forty per cent of those who turned to Caritas last year were not referred; they did so voluntarily. Their ages ranged between 12 and 51.
The Caritas sample shows that cocaine addiction increased by seven per cent. The use of heroin, the main drug, rose by 11 per cent. Synthetic drugs, cocaine and alcohol increased a lot in recent years, in Grech’s experience.
The head of Caritas sends messages along two wavelengths. He talks about the organisation that he heads. It depends on some government grants and voluntary donations and fundraising.
Despite the generosity of the Maltese people, the flow towards the coffers is palpably not enough. So much so that Grech said – sadly, rather in a warning tone – that the rehabilitation programmes of Caritas might become unsustainable.
In recent years the four residential rehabilitation homes run by Caritas suffered considerable financial losses despite fundraising activities.
That made Grech repeat an old plea – the Government should increase its grants to Caritas.
That is easier said than done. Government has myriad requests for funds. It does not have the revenue to match them. Nevertheless, with a tweak here and a budge threesome, more funds could be found for Caritas.
I say for Caritas. That wouldn’t be so. They would be for the Maltese people as whole.
That is why Grech speaks with more than one voice. He tells us of the financial woes facing Caritas. But he also tells us of the terrible social woes facing Malta.
There can be no better scientific sample than that offered by Caritas as a reflection of what is happening to our island. The next generation is being ruined.
Drug traffickers persist on getting rich to the detriment of others, was Grech’s wry observation.
He made a broad address, based on the Caritas experience. There has to be more investment in preventive education, in the rehabilitation programmes and the services to aid the strengthening of families.
That is a call for a national programme.
The Labour Government is now well into its stride. The Prime Minister is coming more into his own and growing in stature. Talk of implementing the Labour programme is not just talk. Each ministry is tasked with a tracer report, a close follow-up of what is going on.
To govern is dynamic. An electoral programme is yesterday’s work. It has to be updated on an ongoing basis. That is what the Government will have to be doing.
Many would like to see put in place a broader offensive against drug abuse, starting from a very early age. The Education Ministry is probably one of the best there is. This should become one of its challenges.
Academic achievement, creation of jobs and such tasks are all part and parcel of government. So is the eradication of poverty, which the minister in charge of it is tackling with vigour.
All roads cross drug abuse at some stage. They do so early on. Even at the age of 12, by the Caritas example.
There is no time to waste.