“Always remember what you went through to reach this stage” – The President to 14 people graduating from Caritas Malta President George Vella congratulated fourteen people who have successfully completed Caritas Malta’s residential therapeutic programme and reminded them to never give up and to always remember what they went through to reach this stage.
During the graduation in San Blas, President Vella said that “you are fourteen different stories and each one epitomises success, courage and hope.” Referring to the step that led the graduates to make the first decision to start receiving treatment in one of the Caritas centres, the President said that the resilience shown, and the change made in the past year and a half are truly admirable.
“Everyone’s life is full of challenges and the use of substances that lead to addictions is an example of how some people think they will find solace,” said the President as he saluted all the Caritas workers and called them the hope and true solace for people battling addiction.
President George Vella appealed to everyone to show empathy and compassion when meeting people battling addiction and to avoid words of contempt. “When we remove the stigma that unfortunately still remains, we would be ensuring that everyone battling addiction feels appreciated and understood, not despised or insulted,” said President Vella.
In his speech, he praised the valuable role of Dar Charles Miceli which, for the past five years, has been helping individuals who have completed or are about to complete the programme in order not to fall back into addiction.
Regarding the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis, the President said that this should not be an Authority in name only, but an Authority made up of competent people who are able to help the legislative authorities to change or update the law as required.
President Vella encouraged the responsible authorities to strengthen their efforts in favour of social justice and the prevention of addictions and therefore not to hesitate from taking necessary and timely decisions whenever needed. “This is a fight against drug addiction, not a fight against victims. These are our brothers and sisters who need all our help, sympathy and love,” stated President George Vella.
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