Benedito Mendonça and Carolina Pimentel
Reporters Agência Brasil

Brasília - Today president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will participate in a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto marking the opening of the VII National Antidrug Week. The two main objectives of the event are: first, to reduce drug use, and, second, to make the public aware of the problems caused by drugs.

The event is sponsored by the National Antidrug Secretariat (Senad), which is headed by Roberto Uchôa, who says that the agency will inaugurate a new website home page where it will be easy to get information on drugs and young people can make direct contact with the secretariat. Ochôa also announced that this week there will be a burn of 80 tons of confiscated drugs, as well as auctions of drug dealer assets.

"The revenue from the auctions will go to the National Antidrug Fund where it will be used in our fight to reduce the supply of, and demand for, drugs," declared Ochôa.

According to Ochôa, the secretariat has made a survey to obtain a profile of drug consumers in Brazil and will use that information in future operations against drug traffic, especially in urban centers.

Translator: Allen Bennett