“I walked around the community – said Paul Berizzi – and even if I heard about this reality, I could not imagine anything like this. Being here today is a great enrichment for me.” “One in five workers – continued Berizzi – in Italy use cocaine to overcome fatigue and perform better at work. For this reason we want to do something. Tira Dritto wants to change the common idea about drugs: pull coca is not cool.”
Then Berizzi continued with the story of his book “La Bamba,” the symbolic journey of a gram of cocaine from Colombia to Milan, with stories of violence and addiction. With him the boxer Domenico Valentino, native of Marcianise and testimonials of the project: “In the dining room of the community today, I saw a family and I am honored to be here. I live in a complex reality where it is very easy to find drugs. Boxing in a way saved me, giving me the strength to emerge.”
Antonio Tinelli, coordinator of the Social Committee of San Patrignano, introduced the event: “The annual report of the United Nation on the diffusion of substances says that there is an increase in using of psychoactive substances”. Trends that the community is trying fight with prevention, as it’s shown by the numerous activities organized today in Italy and abroad.
A commitment recognized first of all by the United Nations: today a delegation of the community talked about its experience at the UN headquarter in New York. In the same day the UN General Secretary, Ban Ki Moon recalled San Patrignano as an example in the fight against drugs.