Vatican City, Nov 25, 2016 / 08:42 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Drug addiction is a contemporary form of slavery, Pope Francis lamented Thursday, emphasizing that a rehabilitation which restores victims' joy and dignity is much needed.

“Drugs are a wound in our society.  A wound that traps many people in the networks. They are victims have lost their freedom to fall into slavery; slavery of a dependency we can call ‘chemistry,’” the Pope said Nov. 24.