A Spanish health authority has sparked fury after dispensing advice leaflets to young people on the proper way to snort cocaine.
The campaign, which includes messages such as ‘chop up your line nice and fine,’ and ‘If it is not well chopped, you can damage your nostrils,’ has been slammed as irresponsible and making light of a serious subject.
The controversial project was launched in Bilbao, Spain and involved local health workers handing out plastic advice cards in the shape of credit cards with slogans on them.
A Spanish health authority has sparked fury after dispensing advice leaflets to young people on the proper way to snort cocaine. The project, launched in Bilbao, Spain has been slammed
However, anti-drug campaigners have slammed the move calling it flippant and frivolous.
One spokesperson who has lodged a complaint against the campaign, said: ‘It’s a real nonsense to hand out a kind of consumption “kit” with such a flippant and frivolous message.’
Health officials said the move was justified in order to ‘minimise the risks of drug use’ and that the card was only given out to ‘selected’ people, not the general public.
Recipients would already have sought help and gone through screening and interviews.
The information leaflet also contained warnings about being careful about sharing drug equipment because of the risk of hepatitis C through sniffing cocaine through a straw.
The distribution of the cards coincided with popular fiestas in Bilbao.
‘Our goal is not to promote consumption, but if it is to be done, then it should be a safe, responsible consumption and minimising risks and damages to health,’ said a health department spokesman.
The campaign, which includes messages such as ‘chop up your line nice and fine,’ and ‘If it is not well chopped, you can damage your nostrils,’ has been slammed as irresponsible and making light of a serious subject
Bilbao PP spokesman Luis Eguiluz has called for the city council programme to be withdrawn because there is a ‘risk’ that young people may underestimate the danger of using illegal drugs.
‘Although the campaign is developed in a personalised information centre directed at the drug user, it is a real nonsense to deliver a kind of consumer kit with a slogan so light and frivolous,’ he told the Spanish press.
Bilbao council says the supply of this card is part of a pilot plan and could be extended after the results of its implementation are analysed.