The situation with drug addiction gradually worsens each year, and we must own it to the fact that dangerous substances have become very accessible to teenagers. The authorities declared that the situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region is tense but stable — the drug industry keeps expanding despite the taken measures to prevent drug use. It is stated that there are almost 100 thousand people who use drugs and more than 66 thousand people are patients with drug dependance, and these numbers include only those cases that have been registered in the health care institutions of the region.
Personally, I was shocked to find out that drugs are so widespread and this is a burning issue. I deeply sympathize with those who got themselves into this trap and can’t find their way out. My heart aches when I think of those people. To my mind, we shouldn’t judge them, but rather give them a valid reason to give up on drugs and show them that we aren’t indifferent.
After having decent discussions on this topic in the classroom, I couldn’t help but wonder which of the measures we had come up with would fit the current situation in Nizhny Novgorod. And though I’m not very familiar with it, I did some research and highlighted certain ideas that could be potentially applied in the city where I live.
All the measures can be subdivided into three parts:
· Prevention/education
· Treatment
· Punishment
It is natural that to put a stop to dope addiction, we need to work on preventing people from wanting to try those dangerous substances in the first place. The key to that is education. In my opinion, it is necessary to give speeches about the terrible consequences that such kind of addiction results in at schools, in universities, and sometimes even in the day-care centers. Furthermore, activities, such as sports clubs, art schools, etc., should be more accessible — there should be more of them, and the vast majority needs to be free of charge. That way teenagers would be less drawn to the suspicious drugs that would bring meaning to their lives — kids would already have that meaning!
Second of all, we need to pay close attention to the ones that had already been affected by drugs. That means financially supporting rehab centers and giving affordable or even free therapy to the drug addicts and their closest relatives. Once the treatment was finished, we should keep an eye on former addicts because it’s very easy to go back to consuming drugs again. Such people should undergo annual check-ups and have several people controlling their health.
And the last but not the least measure needs to be taken in terms of punishment. I don’t think that we should imprison people for using drugs, most of them were persuaded to try it once, and then there was no way back. Such people should be sent directly to rehabilitation centers where specialists would work on freeing them from the danger and bring them back to life. It is the drug dealer who should be severely punished in such a case. The officials should send them to prison for a longer period of time, check their friends and acquaintances for being involved in that as well. After they are released, specialists should keep track of all their actions.
Though it all might seem impossible to implement just yet, I think we should take one step at a time, and start with spreading awareness among the underage. And we, as adults, should become role-models for the younger generations. If they see that we are doing perfectly fine without resorting to drugs, they will be more likely to change their mind about the would-be “coolness” of being addicted.
