The current state of the mafia, the production, international trafficking and consumption of drugs, the role of civil society, the action of the institutions. These are the keys to understanding through which to immerse yourself in reading “Mafia&Droga. The state of affairs – Report 2024”, the book boasting the signatures of Umberto Santino, Giovanni La Fiura, Nino Rocca and Giovanni Burgio, published by Mediter Italia in the “Analysis and Documents” series.
It will be presented for the first time, at 6pm on Thursday 6 June at the Spazio Cam of the Villa Filippina Park, as part of the “Una Marina di Libri” festival, in Piazza San Francesco di Paola 18, in Palermo.
A dossier that not only explains the phenomenon of the mafia in history through the evolution and development of the mafias, including international ones, but makes an analysis that looks at the framework of the mafia districts and families which, between drug dealing and other criminal activities , impose their presence on the territory. A work that also allows us to understand the causes, effects, origin and composition of psychoactive substances, indispensable information to understand what the consequences are related to the assumption or even the poly-administration of drugs.
«Drug trafficking has marked a fundamental turning point for the evolution of the mafia phenomenon – writes Umberto Santino in the introduction – since it has induced an increase in illegal accumulation, comparable to that resulting from alcohol prohibition in the 1930s in the United States . The Sicilian mafia, after having had a hegemonic role in the 80s, with the “Pizza Connection”, at the center of which was Gaetano Badalamenti, has lost positions and, in recent years, there has been a return to drugs, to cope to the weakening of the income obtained from other activities. But more than aiming to restore hegemony, Cosa Nostra has established links with other organizations, such as the ‘Ndrangheta which, in the meantime, has established itself on the national and international market. Drugs were, and remain, a magnet phenomenon, involving a long range of subjects and social groups. Even before, drug trafficking included a series of figures external to Cosa Nostra; now, especially for the production and sale of a cocaine derivative, crack, entire family groups are involved, including children, who, in the absence of legal resources, practice illegal activities, which constitute a large part of the real economy of a cities like Palermo.”
“Drugs & Mafia” does not stop at the mere analysis of the phenomenon, but becomes proactive when it talks about the role of civil society and NGOs operating in the area on the prevention and reduction of damage, urging interventions to start from the experience of the parents who live with the drama of children still addicted to drugs or of those who have lost them due to non-personalised or untimely interventions. The innovative regional law proposal “From dependence to interdependence” was born precisely from these needs, presented and explained in the book, together with the “Report on the listening activity of the committees for public order and safety, of the investigative bodies and of local administrators”, the result of the work of the Regional Anti-Mafia Commission in the area.
The authors will be present at the presentation on Thursday 6 June, who will talk about the genesis and development of this work. Journalist Gilda Sciortino will moderate.
Place: Spazio Cam – Marina di Libri – Villa Filippina, Piazza San Francesco di Paola, 18, PALERMO, PALERMO, SICILY
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