The rise of new forms of addiction - from drugs to digital technologies - is demanding a broader and more coordinated response from institutions. This is the key message emerging from the Seventh National Conference on Addictions, taking place on November 7–8 at Rome’s Auditorium della Tecnica. The event brings together government representatives, regional authorities, scientists, and civil society organizations to discuss strategies and share expertise.
The opening session, attended by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, featured addresses from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Senate President Ignazio La Russa, Chamber of Deputies President Lorenzo Fontana, Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, President of the Conference of Regions Massimiliano Fedriga, and Undersecretary to the Prime Minister Alfredo Mantovano. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), joined via video link.
Over two days of plenary and parallel sessions - streamed live on the Department for Anti-Drug Policies’ website - the conference explores the evolving landscape of addiction: substance abuse, gambling, and digital dependency. Experts, researchers, and social organizations are contributing to a national dialogue on prevention and recovery.
In a video message, Pope Leo XIV warned against “the new forms of dependency linked to the growing use of the Internet, computers, and smartphones,” which add to “the persistent scourge of drugs and alcohol.” He urged attention to “the harm these behaviors cause to health and social life,” citing compulsive gambling, pornography, and constant online presence as symptoms of “inner distress and a decline in values.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following Senate President La Russa, noted that “addiction today has expanded and transformed,” encompassing “technological dependencies, eating disorders, anxiety, cyberbullying, and peer violence.”
“We live in an era that presents challenges unimaginable to previous generations,” she said, “creating new vulnerabilities that we cannot afford to ignore.”
Meloni announced that government funding for anti-addiction programs will double between 2024 and 2025, reaching €165 million, a record figure aimed at strengthening public services, patient mobility, and prevention and rehabilitation initiatives.
In his address, President Mattarella called for “a conscious, structured, and continuously renewed commitment” to counter “the tragedy of lives destroyed by drugs and the corrupting influence of organized crime.” He linked the conference’s slogan, ‘Together We Can’, with the Prime Minister’s words, ‘No one will be left alone on this front’, defining it as “a front of freedom, so that young people may live as free and responsible protagonists of their own future.”
Mattarella expressed appreciation for the conference’s “careful and extensive preparation,” which has “collected valuable experiences, reflections, and proposals,” and wished all participants success in their work.