World Mental Health Day 2024.
It’s Time to fully apply the COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH ACTION PLAN 2013-2030 (W.H.O) Drug use has not place in the effective plan.
Summary and its Application to Alcohol & Other Drug Issues - Dalgarno Institute
From the Conclusion: Any attempt to normalize, and thus embrace drug use as part of everyday life, is antithetical to the entire World Health Organisation’s Mental Health Plan.
That substance use may be a subset of behaviours in a culture is not in question.
However, what is in question, is its status. A status that is historically and wisely utterly unacceptable for all and more of the reasons outlined in attached document. However, it has been gradually shifting, due to addiction for profit protagonists and the emergence (particularly in first world economies) of rabid individualism which sees ‘rights’ as only enshrined in the egocentric, with little to no regard for the ‘neighbour’.
Subsequently, there has been a stronger emergence of ever ‘creative’ permission models, modes or mantras that give a tacit consent to these behaviours. These include the misuse of anti-stigma rhetoric to deny contestation of self and community harming activities – not least the mental health of a society and its members. This is completely unacceptable under the terms of this proposed plan.
The Dalgarno Institute, as part of the primary prevention sector, want to see this robust plan implemented with a strict eye to the absolute minimising, of not simply the potential harms of substance use, but more its capacity to even engage communities.
The upstream approach must look to ensure, as best as possible, that substance use gets no cultural leverage for normalization practices. Any approval in the public square of substance use behaviour, is only and always counter-productive to the best-practice outcomes of this mental health plan.