Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended today the graduation ceremony of OKANA’s Social Reintegration Unit, during which 39 people who successfully completed the Organization’s programs, initially for drug addiction and then for reintegration into society and the market, received their diplomas work.

At the event, the first speech was given by the Social Reintegration Officer, Alexandros Psarianos, and two graduates, who moved by talking about their efforts.

Mitsotakis

The Prime Minister was welcomed by the Minister of Health Michalis Chrysochoidis, the Deputy Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos and the President of OKANA, Thanasis Theocharis. Here is the Prime Minister’s greeting:

“Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers, Mr. President of OKANA, ladies and gentlemen,

I had prepared a draft greeting, but I think the last thing you’re interested in is hearing another scripted speech, so let me speak from the heart.

I remember, some years ago, one Christmas night, I was in the center of Athens, near Vathi square, talking with some of our fellow citizens who were fighting the demons of addictions.

Some had made great strides, some had relapsed, some still hadn’t found the strength to do what you did. This experience is indelibly etched in my memory, which is why I really feel great joy and emotion – and I want you to believe that my words are completely sincere – to be with you today at this very important stage of your life: at graduation, the formal but also very essential, from the social reintegration program.

A moment that marks two things: first, the great courage you showed to take control of your life back into your hands, to fight your demons, to fight the ghosts that haunted you, to be where you are today to be able to look at life again with much greater optimism.

The second, said one of the speakers, is freedom. Everyone’s free will can ultimately determine the conditions under which they will live. Always with the support of a State, whose measure of social sensitivity is ultimately care for those who need it most.

That is why I want to say special congratulations to all the workers of OKANA, with whom – as you well know – you develop such a close relationship that, as has been said, you see them as heroes. They are your heroes, in the sense that they are the ones in whom you found a point of reference, a safe harbor, in whom you confided your innermost fears, your greatest phobias. You have solved those seemingly unsolvable puzzles that may have been the generative cause that led you down the path of addiction. All this takes a lot of courage.

Our job, Mr. Minister and Mr. Deputy Minister, is not only to further strengthen these programs, consolidating – as was said – all the programs to combat, prevent and deal with addictions in one body. Maintaining their autonomy and the different therapeutic approaches which are desirable and recognized by the scientific community, but under a single coordination, so that any fellow citizen who has the strength and feels the need to make this great effort, knows that he has the State near him.

The next step for us is vocational rehabilitation and the great importance I attach to programs that the Public Employment Service can put in place will give you the opportunity to take exactly that next step. Because a stable career path is a necessary condition to be able to continue those important steps of progress you have made.

And the third and most important thing is what we all do here, which is why the step belongs to you in the first place: to break the stigma, the prejudices, and to explain to our most suspicious fellow citizens that everyone is entitled to a second chance opportunity, as long as he wants it.

And to embrace and support these people who literally went through a hell, which we can hardly imagine, and came out standing, alive. And to realize what Vasso said – if I remember correctly – in the video that “yes, life is very nice”. It is too good to be lost in a sea of ​​addictions, hallucinations, a virtual reality that eventually leads to a dead end if not to something much worse.

And of course, as has been said, we never know what life has in store and that is why it is very important to support the words that were heard. You are now much more experienced and sensitive, so you can diagnose the risks of a potential relapse and seek help and support if you need it. Do not hesitate to do so, you have put in too much effort to allow yourselves to return from where you escaped with too much trouble and too much effort.

So again, from the bottom of my heart, I want to congratulate you, your families, the people who supported you, who stood by you, those who didn’t forget you, those who didn’t abandon you, those who finally believed in you.

But above all, you believed in yourselves. Success is yours. This route was ultimately lonely, you surely know that much better than I do.

So I want to wish you all the best in your life from the bottom of my heart. And please don’t hesitate – I only have one request, like the example we heard before Kostas – share your experiences with others who need you, show them that there is a way. The labyrinth of dependencies of every form is not a dead end. It’s not a dead end.

And when we talk about addictions, of course, we’re not just talking about the scourge of drugs. We are faced with a new spectrum of addictions that require a new scientific approach and that will require us to mobilize all our forces to be as far ahead of developments as possible.

From the bottom of my heart, good strength and I wish you the best. Be well”.