Drug Use Prevention in Guayaquil: Public Policy, Strategic Communication, and the Concept of Freedom.

Abstract

This research analyzes the State’s influence on strategic communication planning for drug prevention in public schools in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The urgency lies in the need to implement campaigns targeting vulnerable neighborhoods, where parents, adolescents, and community leaders can be informed, alerted, and involved. The general objective is to determine the importance of effective state-led strategic communication planning to prevent drug use among teenagers. The methodology relies on a literature review of contemporary authors such as Castells, McQuail, and Fraser, combined with a single case study: Steven, a young man from Guayaquil struggling to reverse the damage caused by drug use. Through this approach, the study characterizes theoretical frameworks on communication and prevention, identifies behavior patterns among users, and examines the influence of government policies and regulations. These public policies, focused on fighting illegal drugs rather than legalizing them, embody the practical application of freedom as theorized by Isaiah Berlin in Four Essays on Liberty and Robert Nozick in Anarchy, State, and Utopia. In this context, traditional media like radio and television are no longer the primary channels of persuasion. Social media platforms, which adolescents actively engage with, emerge as key tools for delivering impactful drug prevention campaigns today.