Psychiatric Clinic, without conditions for the recovery of people affected by overdoses

The number of users of narcotic substances this year also remains a worrying problem. The curiosity of young people to experiment took the lives of many people and destroyed that of many others.

The director of the Psychiatric Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo has said that unfortunately the number of users is increasing every day, especially young people, who are driven by curiosity to try narcotic substances.

According to him, the Psychiatric Clinic has no special conditions for the treatment of people with an overdose of narcotic substances.

Regarding this problem, the spokesperson of the Kosovo Police, Daut Hoxha, told KosovaPress that the Directorate for the Investigation of Narcotics Trafficking (DHTN) is engaged in the activity of prevention, investigation and arrest of persons who commit all forms of criminal offenses that have to do with narcotic substances (drugs), provided by the legislation of the Republic of Kosovo.

According to him, this directorate has taken other measures in order to achieve efficiency in preventing this phenomenon.

"We are intensifying meetings with sources in the field, visits to locations that are suspected to be frequented by traffickers, meetings with national and international institutions, holding lectures in high schools in Kosovo with the aim of raising awareness and informing about the consequences of drug use and increasing of logistic capacities (equipment for drug identification)", said Hoxha.

The director of the Psychiatric Clinic, Shaban Mecinaj, told KosovaPress that all statistics show that the number of users is increasing in Kosovo.

According to him, this phenomenon is more pronounced among young people, which is a worrying fact.

"The fact that it is very present among young people, teenagers and especially in the cannaboid group, as is the case with marijuana, is especially worrying. But we also have cases of an increase in the number of users of opioid substances, which means users of heroin, methadone, etc. Characteristic of young people is the use of short-term psychostimulant substances GJGP, which is in trend recently, but also the group of cannabinoids, as is the case with marijuana. The clinic does not treat overdoses, which are quite frequent, we offer consultations in the emergency center depending on the requests of our colleagues, but the clinic does not have the conditions nor the opportunity to offer treatment to those who have overdosed on these substances", said Mecinaj.

Mecinaj further said that it is quite worrying that many patients come with court orders due to various offenses and that they are not motivated for treatment.

According to him, these cases present an obstacle to the treatment of patients, who express genuine motivation and interest in detoxification treatment at the Psychiatric Clinic.

The director of the "Labyrinth" Rehabilitation Center, Safet Blakaj, told KosovaPress that since 2002, 1400 people, problematic drug users, have been registered in the "Labyrinth" center.

"In the "Labyrinth" center, since 2002, we have registered with all the data in our database 1400 people, problematic drug users. Out of this number we have several programs running here, the methadone maintenance therapy program – there are now 95 people who are regulars at our center on a daily basis. Of course, there are also other programs here, such as detoxification or drug cleansing, which is a program that is offered on a daily basis. Our function is very oriented towards the reduction of damage", said Blakaj.

Among other things, Blakaj added that the number of heroin users has obviously decreased.

According to him, the number of deaths from drugs is decreasing compared to previous years, where in 2012 the death rate from overdoses increased, but fortunately this phenomenon has decreased in recent years.

Blakaj for KosovaPress, further said that the multiple use of drugs also presents a risk, which can result in fatality.

He added at the end that the environment where young people stay determines whether they will start taking drugs or not. /Telegraph/