HAVANA, Cuba. – Alcohol, tobacco, drugs…, the gateway to addictions is around the corner, although comparatively that is not still a serious problem in Cuba.

However, the proliferation of drug dependence among young people has ignited an alarm because of the need to put the patch before the grain comes out.

That is a responsibility of the whole society, obliged in all its bodies to ensure the health of every individual, which ultimately is to care for collective health.

From the family, which is the most important link in a chain of protection, until the national health system, universal and free, we all have to close ranks to avoid major ills such as those who bleed societies very close to our shores and which look admiringly Cuba´s ability to confront addictions.

From Pleasure to Dependence

There is not sweet lemon nor positive addiction, even if this is to video games.

Scientists of all kind have already said repeatedly, that in the beginning the consumption produces a sense of pleasure that little by little changes with the increase of tolerance, to become a hard dependence with a physical and psychological expression.

An addict, although he does not know, is a sick person dragging a past of ephemeral happiness and living in a present of dark future, at the risk of life.

Vulnerability varies from one person to another, the same as risk factors, but the best antidote is prevention, and family and social action especially among teenagers.

It is best to avoid the treatment of addictions, because some are bad but others … are worse.