The Judiciary Police (PJ) launched their annual week-long “Youth Drug Abuse Prevention” publicity campaign in the city’s main square, Largo do Senado, yesterday with young trainees from their “Community Safety Youth Leadership Project” and the “Junior Anti-Crime Pioneers Project”, as well as trainees from the “Weifang City Youth Police School’s Safe and Sound (平安) Pioneers in Shandong Province”.
According to a PJ spokesman, the publicity campaign aims to raise anti-drug awareness through “the influence of peers”. Under the guidance of the PJ Narcotics Division, the trainees will inform the public about the harm of substance abuse and drug prevention strategies.
Furthermore, the PJ also announced that the “Community Safety Youth Leadership Project” and the “Junior Anti-Crime Pioneers Project” will visit recreational areas, parks, sports venues and other places across Macau where young people often gather during the week-long campaign in the hope of disseminating the anti-drug message and preventing the spread of substance abuse across the city.
To curb drug-related crimes among youths, the Judiciary Police also continue to hold crime prevention talks in local schools, including “Understanding the Anti-Drug Law and Drug Cannabis” lectures for students and “Drug Recognition Seminars” for teachers, staff and parents. According to the Judiciary Police, the publicity and educational campaigns not only raise awareness of the harm of drug abuse and its legal consequences, but also promote cooperation among families, schools and the police to prevent substance abuse among youngsters.
The Judiciary Police urge young people to remain vigilant at all times, resolutely reject the temptation of drugs and call on their peers to do the same. Moreover, the police remind all sectors of civil society to pay attention to the regulations on drugs in different countries and regions, particularly the decriminalisation of marijuana, and avoid breaking the law by mistakenly bringing back products containing controlled substances into Macau.
Representatives from the Judiciary Police, depictions of the Judiciary Police’s “Anti-Drug Lado” mascot and Shandong Weifang’s Youth Police School pose together with their young trainees from the Judiciary Police (PJ) “Community Safety Youth Leadership Project” and “Junior Anti-crime Pioneers Project”, as well as the “Weifang City Youth Police School’s Safe and Sound (平安) Pioneers in Shandong Province”, in the city’s main square, Largo do Senado, yesterday afternoon. – Photo: Leong Ian Kio
