2 hours agoConcern: Kosovo drug users' average age has dropped to 16
Periskopi(6 months ago)
(6 months ago)Using drugs in Kosovo is marking a disturbing trend, with a steady decline in the age of users. Director of psychiatric specialist center “Labyrinth”, Safet Blakaj, has said in RTK that the average age for treatment has dropped to 16, while in the first decade after the war that average was over [...]
According to Blakaj, although cases of children 950 years of age are rare, they exist. He has shown that in his practice two cases of nine - year - olds, one of whom had come in contact with drugs through his father, who was a heroin user.
The main problem today is the 15-year-old age group. These are the most exposed to drug contact and require much more complex treatment than adults”, Blakaj stressed.
According to him, concern is the significant decline in cocaine users' age. In previous years, users of this drug were mostly 3550, but today most are 2550, even under 18, including teenage girls”.
Blakaj said one of the main causes of this phenomenon is the lack of sustainable and comprehensive prevention programmes, especially for minors.
The use of drugs does not necessarily start within schools, but outside, while the educational system often fails in the right response to the recorded” cases.
According to Blakaj, peer pressure and the desire to fit a group are key factors that influence the start of drug use, while family, school and institutions often fail to identify the problem in early stages.
He said it's false who uses drugs is always dependent. “We have many examples that have abandoned and established families”, Blakaj said, among other things.
