Drug users make up three percent of Chechen populationTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus - Nearly three percent of people in Chechnya are drug addicts, stated Musa Dalsayev, the Chechen Republic’s chief narcotics expert.
"In Russia, 219 people out of 100,000 are drug addicts, but in Chechnya it is only 154 out of 100,000. Yet we must take into account that there are more unknown addicts here than there are in Russia," he added.
According to him, ”the number of non-registered users in the republic is 20 times higher than registered ones. Therefore, if we accept the population census figures of approximately one million, and we know that there are more than 30,000 users, than the total number of drug addicts is almost 3 percent of the population.
And the rise of narcotics usage among our youth is accelerating. For boys it went from 30% [year-on-year rise] in 2002 to 45% in 2003; and for girls it jumped from 1% to 16%,” declared Dalsayev.
He believes that the underlying reason for this occurrence in the Chechen Republic is primarily social. "There are two basic types of people using drugs: those from broken families (where either the father or mother is missing) and the unemployed.
Drug abuse is caused by psychological discomfort resulting from a poor quality of life. People become addicts because of wars, instability, unemployment and a low standard of living."
In Dalsayev’s opinion, the struggle against drug abuse should begin with education. "Unless the population is made aware that turning to narcotics is bad, no progress can be made.”
He went on to name another step that would greatly improve this situation, which is to create a narcotics agency with a network of rehabilitation centers.
"However, simply offering medication and rest in a sanitarium is not enough. Rehabilitation must include employment for the recovering addicts so they are able to provide a living for their families.” (S/E,T) |
