Students are able to get drugs into national educational centers, where authorities have found from alcohol to doses of cocaine and crack, in addition to the utensils to consume and prepare them.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), just in 2016, 448 doses of drugs were seized in schools, private institutions and sidewalks. In 2015, 3,336 doses were seized, but the operations included 500 meters around the schools, now they are only made in their perimeters.
Gloria Calvo, Deputy Director of Student Life at the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) declared that it is a problem they have had to face, so they constantly coordinate with the MSP to carry out the operations, especially when there are suspicions.
Most doses are found in school halls and desks and it is very unusual to directly confiscate them from students.
These visits are done with the police dogs… we have to coordinate with students’ parents or legal guardians to be able to check their bags, since we cannot do it directly because it is a students’ right to have their privacy,
informed Calvo.
According to the official, talks with experts from the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD) and the Institute of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA) are held to prevent drug consumption and monitor minors when they have ingested them.
Calvo said that the MEP works in prevention only, because it is not their job to “reprimand” students when they find drugs.
What worries us a lot more is the adult behind that situation because, in the end, students are victims. We are interested in the child and sometimes the person is punished, but we must worry about the adult who is coercing that child to traffic drugs,
explained the official.
For this reason, the “Aprendo a valerme por mi mismo” program is now being implemented in elementary schools.
According to the expert, this is one of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and it was carried out last year.