National Police agents surprised young people under the influence of drugs and alcohol in different nightlife venues in Maspalomas
43 minors have been identified over the weekend by the National Police due to alcohol consumption and possession of drugs such as cocaine, hashish or marijuana. According to the minors' own testimony to the agents, the alcohol would have been consumed inside the establishment where the drugs were seized and the investigation was carried out, so the establishment would be exposed to a fine of between 3.000 and 15.000 euros and even the closure of the establishment for selling alcohol to minors.
The identifications, which respond to the routine controls that the National Police carry out in the area on the busiest nights in the municipality's nightlife areas, were carried out in two nightlife venues in Maspalomas. In the first, 23 minors were identified, the vast majority under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and these types of substances were seized from five of them. The same procedure was carried out in the second location, with a similar number (20) of minors identified.
It is no coincidence that the identification of fifty minors has occurred at the gates of Holy Week. What for many means a week of rest or faith, for many others means lack of control and excess. Vacations, the end of exams and the arrival of heat are key factors in the increase in the consumption of alcohol and narcotic substances among many young people. A consumption that can be considered almost seasonal, having its peak in the summer season and, precisely, at Easter.
Excessive alcohol consumption does not only occur at parties, where the offer in the south of Gran Canaria is massive during Holy Week with daily celebrations. On the contrary, the bottles have been moved to apartments, where on more than one occasion groups of young people exceed the capacity allowed in the rooms and cause damage and inconvenience to tourists and neighbors.
It also happens on the street itself, where despite the prohibitions, many young people look for a point away from police sight to meet up to drink, something that no longer only has consequences for themselves, with health problems and an increase in aggressiveness that On multiple occasions it has led to fights, but for the surroundings of the municipality by leaving their garbage lying around most of the time and, on many occasions, streets full of urine and vomit. Situations that compromise and overshadow all those young people who are capable of going out and enjoying the municipality's wide range of nightlife without causing inconvenience.
This only deepens the problem that exists in the archipelago with the consumption of alcohol and drugs at an early age. According to the survey on Alcohol and other Drugs (EDADES 2022), the Canary Islands have the highest national percentage of young people between 14 and 18 years old who have tried hypnosedatives (22,3%), either with a prescription (Alprazolam, Lormetazepam, Bromazepam...) or without it (marijuana, hashish, cocaine...) As for alcohol, more than 70% of young Canarians claim to have tried it at some point in their lives, with 23,3% stating that they "drink excessively."
