A city council in Argentina advises young people to consume drugs in small amounts "to see how the body reacts"

• Argentina At least 20 dead and 70 hospitalized for consuming adulterated cocaine

Argentina

plunged into a controversy on Monday when the council of

, a large city on the outskirts of

, advised young people to consume drugs in small amounts "to see how the body reacts."

The tips were published in brochures distributed over the weekend at a party for young people, and bear the signature of the municipality's

, governed by Kirchnerism, the most radical wing of Peronism.

The campaign is designed to minimize risks for people who will inevitably consume drugs, but the advice was pointed out as counterproductive by many media outlets, political parties and civil organizations.

After suggesting that young people

("flowers" instead of "pressed"), the campaign addresses the issue of pill and cocaine consumption.

"Go slowly and slowly," is the initial advice.

," adds the brochure under the title "Si salís de joda" (if you go out partying).

"These people govern the largest province in the country," criticized Deputy

, a member of the opposition coalition Together for Change.

"I want a state that teaches our children that cocaine destroys lives and families, not how to consume it," said

, former mayor of Morón and also a member of the opposition.

Drug use has grown very significantly in the last two decades in Argentina, and the recent coronavirus pandemic has aggravated the problem.

The opposition often accuses the national Peronist government of having neglected the fight against drug trafficking and allowing criminal organizations to settle in the densely populated suburbs of Buenos Aires and

, the country's two main cities.

The government denies this, in a context in which Argentines are not used to well-designed prevention campaigns, and much less to prior testing of substances as is customary in several European countries given the inevitability of consumption in leisure situations.

In February, 26 people died in a Buenos Aires suburb from consuming cocaine adulterated with fentanyl.

Months ago, the government of the province of Buenos Aires, the largest in the country and to which the municipality of Morón belongs, launched advice for young people

. "

"Anticipate to enjoy as you like. Analyze what your limit is going to be. Maintain a bond, do not isolate yourself. Know the origin of what you consume. Choose a careful consumption".

The municipality of Morón defended the criticized campaign, and argued that it is part of the "Program for the Reduction of Risks and Damages associated with the consumption of legal and illegal psychoactive substances."

"The harm reduction paradigm (...) is the opposite of the stigmatization or repression of those who consume, and

that protect their health, provide useful information and guarantee the individual freedom of all" .

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