National anti-drug policy is being debated in regional forums with various sectors of Brazil's civil society. The idea is to discuss proposals for a national policy with representatives from all spheres of government (federal, state, and municipal), the scientific community, social organizations, and community leaders.

According to the National Anti-Drug Secretary, Paulo Roberto Uchôa, drugs are a problem not only for Brazil, but for the entire world. "In Brazil it is a high-level problem of the State, demanding a firm and secure national policy," he emphasized.

Uchôa explained that the Secretariat is involved in combatting the use of legal and illegal drugs. One of the ones that cause greatest concern, according to him, is the abusive consumption of alcohol. According to Uchôa, indicators show that alcohol has the highest index of chemical dependence.

"Alcohol is behind the majority of crimes, domestic violence, murders, traffic accidents with victims," he pointed out. In his view, education is the most effective way to combat drug use.

He cited, for example, the Brazilian government program that will train around 5 thousand public school teachers about drug prevention.

Earlier this month around 100 journalists and specialists from all over Brazil attended a meeting in Brasília, which discussed the Brazilan media's perspective on drugs and drug users.

The Media and Drugs Seminar, organized by the Childrens' Rights News Agency (ANDI), in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, was intended to stimulate self-awareness among media professionals on the drug theme.

A recent unpublished study by the ANDI analyzed stories from 49 Brazilian newspapers on the topic of drugs. One of the conclusions is that drug users are stigmatized by the media and drugs are always associated with an increase in violence.

For Alba Daluar, an anthropologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the association between drugs and violence is not always accurate. According to her, violence is a systemic problem involving various other issues, and neither drugs nor drug users can be cast in the same light.

Senator Jefferson Peres, from the Amazon states, who favors the legalization of drugs, questioned the absence of debates in the media on this matter. He argues that legalizing drug use would be more beneficial than prohibiting it.

The Senator said that he won't present a bill for the legalization of drugs until an international convention on this theme is orchestrated, lest Brazil legalize drugs on its own and become a supplier for the international drug traffic

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