Gibraltar Street Pastors training – Session on Drugs Awareness

This comes a little late in the week but it’s a catch-up Blog on last Saturday’s Gibraltar Street Pastors training session.  Session # 3 was the Drugs Awareness Training seminar and several things about it are Blog worthy 

Officers from the Royal Gibraltar Police’s Drugs Squad were present to  enlighten, especially with the bit where attendees were allowed to see and handle real samples.  It was quite ironic, as noted by one of the officers, that we were in a church building, so called the “House of God”, seeing and handling samples of real drugs!

 

It was a huge privilege to have the local Drugs Strategy Coordinator make a very interesting presentation on the work of his office and the problems associated with drugs in Gibraltar.  Two recovering addicts were present to give emotional, and extremely courageous, talks to us about their personal stories, their struggles and their victories in the battle against drugs.

I came away very aware that there is pain in peoples’ lives, pain that we often medicate.  Those who medicate their feelings with drugs run the real risk of starting on a downward slippery slope into what one of the two young men adequately described as “hell”.  Into this real world we shall step, in Easter – Into the world of pain, a world were young people do medicate their feelings with alcohol and drugs.  Can’t wait to step into this, and be a part of a caring presence on our streets.