Young people and drug consumption: workshops to provide tools for workers in social institutions, from a collective health perspective

The objective of this study was, through workshops, to provide tools for workers in social institutions who work with young people, so that they could understand present-day drug consumption. It started from the presupposition that approaching this topic from a collective health perspective, i.e. from understanding the structure of the production, distribution and consumption of drugs today, the work of these institutions might be improved. The aim was to investigate the effectiveness of workshops as tools in the educational process. The methodology consisted of systematically conducting workshops within a theoretical-methodological framework of historical-critical theory. The workers' participation evolved qualitatively, thereby showing that the knowledge identified, along with the common sense initially brought in, evolved into comprehension of the roots of harmful drug consumption and into surmounting reiterative practices that fed back into myths, prejudice and stereotypes regarding users, as well as gaining respect for the power and effects of drugs.