The capital’s prefect, Rares Gopinka, sparked a real national debate after announcing that he was looking into requiring students to provide a medical certificate at the start of each school year, confirming that they had passed drug tests.

Now the prefect backtracks a bit on his statements and says that it will not be a general test and that it will only be conducted with parental consent.

“This dangerous phenomenon can no longer be swept under the carpet: the age at which children try drugs has dropped to 13 in recent years. Also, medicines will diversify and the age will continue to decrease,” Hopincha said on Digi 24 on Monday evening.

The prefect says he is considering extensive consultation with parents on the subject, which will be carried out particularly through inspections.

The second initiative is aimed at introducing a lesson on the fight against drugs into the school curriculum.

Drug consumption in Romania is constantly increasing. Official statistics say so, but the public debate exploded after the tragedy on May 2, when a 19-year-old boy under the influence of drugs killed two students. The reality, ignored for years by those with the data, has now emerged, and from the highest levels, the authorities want to show that solutions exist.

• PUBLIC DEBATES. Drug testing and screening for students? / Psychotherapist: “We will direct them to substances that are not suitable for analysis” / Teacher: “The fact that he is sad and with his head on the bench does not mean that he is a drug addict”