CAMARINES Sur Second District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. has filed a bill providing for the prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse among high-risk youth.

In his House Bill 8771 or the proposed Saving Young Substance Abusers Act, Villafuerte said the abuse of illegal drugs and alcohol has been the cause of hundreds of accidents, crimes, and deaths each year.

In some cases, Villafuerte said in his explanatory note that sharing of drug paraphernalia can cause the spread of several communicable diseases, including AIDS and Hepatitis C.

The lawmaker stressed that to reach out to those disenfranchised sectors of the youth, community-based programs that target these high-risk youth must be in place.

More often than not, non-governmental organizations have the experience and capacity to work at the grassroots level.

Thus, the bill mandates the Department of Health to make grants that would assist organizations in saving the youth from the debilitating effects of substance abuse and becoming competent partners in development.