Church: drugs and drug addiction - Pastoral Handbook #41838

What can be done in the pastoral field with respect to the drug problem? Many bishops, priests, religious man and woman, anguished parents, addicted youths and non-addicts, have asked themselves: What can we do as Christians, faced with the drug problem? With this Handbook, the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care does not claim to offer a definitive answer, but to give suggestions that could help in pastoral work. We do not herewith intend to propose a new method, but to offer a simple answer in the form of a practical guide, to the fundamental question for pastoral action which perhaps will also serve those who through much dedication and care have become specialists in this field. The Holy Father stressed three actions in dealing with the drug problem: prevention, care and suppression of the "traffickers of death". Here we deal with the first two, leaving it to the Governments to confront with courage the complicated fight against drugs, one in which we should all be united.