Paying attention to your health during the week and using drugs on the weekend? That doesnt go together. This message is central to the new drug campaign. With online videos and signs in the city, the municipality wants to convey: Really aware? Then no drugs.
With the campaign, the municipality aims to make youth aware of their lifestyle. For this, social media such as Snapchat and YouTube and street signs (bus shelters) are used.
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According to Alderman Pascal Lansink-Bastemeijer (Enforcement, Public Space, Mobility), drug use does not fit with the young generation of today. That generation wants to live consciously and healthily and is very focused on a better world.
From guilt to awareness
‘We see that many young people make conscious choices in life,’ says Lansink-Bastemeijer, who as Alderman for Enforcement oversees the approach to drug use in the city.
‘But what many young people do on the weekend sometimes contradicts that. This campaign is not about guilt, but about awareness. The campaign asks the question: does drug use fit with who you want to be?’
Videos
The videos that are spread through social media and bus shelters address this duality. You see young people engaged in sports, self-care and waste separation and using drugs on the weekend. ‘Building your body. But destroying it on the weekend,’ is the text accompanying one of the videos.
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Coalition Agreement
The municipality conducts a campaign every year to raise awareness of drug use in the city. This is stated as an agreement in the coalition agreement. Link opens an external page. In that agreement, all agreements that aldermen must consider when making their plans are included.
Previous drug campaigns
Previous drug campaigns attracted a lot of attention. Last year, the municipality raised awareness of drug use with playful street name signs. The year before, the municipality confronted Rotterdam residents with slogans like ‘There is blood on your pill,’ on signs in the city.
World of violence
The municipal campaigns against drug use emphasize that using drugs does not stand alone. Behind drugs lies a world of violence and environmental pollution. Those who use maintain that world.
More information
Do you want to know more about drug use in Rotterdam? And what the municipality is doing to reduce it? Visit the website Drugsimpact Rotterdam. Link opens an external page.
