The latest statistics on drug use in Romania show that in 2021, almost 17% of people aged 15 to 34 used at least one type of drug, and this percentage has been steadily increasing in recent years. The director of the National Narcotics Agency (ANA), Ramona Dabija, says the youngest reported age of drug use is 13.

The tragedy of May 2, when a 19-year-old boy who used three types of drugs killed two young people, brings back to the discussion the problem of drug use, including in schools, among young people, a phenomenon that is gaining momentum. pulse.

• The guy who caused the tragedy on May 2 was allegedly a drug addict and was taken to the Netherlands for treatment / In 2022, he was investigated for drug possession and pardoned by the court. The driver who killed two young people on May 2 was caught by the police with drugs in the car and drove off an hour before the accident

• The father of a boy who died in a road accident on May 2 due to the fault of a young drug addict: I was taking him from the morgue, what I saw is indescribable / Shocking statements Unbelievable testimony of a driver under the influence of three drugs, who killed two young people and injured three others on May 2
• “I didn’t take his car, I took his place forever.” A young woman who was killed by a drug-impaired driver was not recognized at the morgue. Serious family allegations
• How IPJ Constanta explains that the police did not inform the family of a young woman who was killed by a drugged driver

“It spreads like that, by word of mouth”

Cătălin was in eighth grade and 14 years old when he first took psychoactive substances, drugs as they are known. He says he and his colleagues avoided teachers or other kids their age, but he admits it’s possible that at least some teachers knew about drug use at the school.

“I got drugs from dealers. When I smoked at school, there was someone who brought it. Not everyone knew what we were doing, we tried to stay away from professionals and other employees, but it happened that other colleagues saw us and told us. I didn’t find out if any of the teachers would know, but it’s possible,” the young man told HotNews.ro.

He explained that everything was more “hardcore” on the trips, because different types of substances were used than “usual”.

“You contact the dealer through someone else who has a contact. It is transmitted by word of mouth. We used to smoke weed a lot during the trips and usually bring other drugs like coke or MDMA, it was more hardcore there,” Katelyn explains.

Constant growth of consumption

Data for 2021 (the latest available) show that the number of drug users in Romania is constantly increasing. 16.9% of people aged 15 to 34 have used illicit substances in their lifetime, 10% have used in the last year and 6.6% in the last month alone, which is 1.4 times more than in the previous study. ANA authors note.

The most consumed drug in Romania is cannabis. Every tenth young person (aged 15 to 34) has used cannabis at least once in their life.

“8.7% of 16-year-olds have used marijuana in their lifetime, 7.2% have used it in the past year, and 3.3% of them have also used it in the past month. 1% of students started using marijuana at age 13 or earlier,” the study says.

ANA: Children don’t know how to deal with the pressure that is put on them

ANA director Ramona Dabija says that the institution she leads has launched an information campaign among 7th graders and explained to HotNews.ro why children start using drugs at the age of 13.

“This is a phenomenon that has been talked about a lot lately. It cannot be said that now, only this year, young people started using drugs (…). That is why, at the agency level, at the end of the last school year, we held an action aimed at children of the 7th grade. It was a pilot project at the level of Bucharest, and starting from this school year, we want to implement it at the national level, precisely because 13 years is a vulnerable age,” says the director of ANA.

She explains that the stress caused by the 8th grade final exam and the pressure placed on children make them fall prey to illicit substances.

“Children from the 5th to the 7th grade were considered excellent parents, no one took them to school, they were allowed to walk on the street and get money for various things. Suddenly, in the 7th grade, parents come back to them with pressure, because there is an exam in the 8th grade, and then they do not know how to emotionally cope with this parental pressure, they already feel the taste of this freedom, strictly in quotation marks. in other words, independence is faster. And then it clicks,” explained Dabija.

She says ANA plans to go national next school year with campaigns for kids around the age of 13, the director also told us.

Illegal “legals”.

According to the cited source, the most consumed psychoactive substances are the so-called “legal”, that is, those types of drugs that are produced in underground laboratories.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are chemicals made in underground laboratories that have far worse health effects than traditional drugs, experts say. The category of new psychoactive substances includes synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones.

NSPs were designed to produce psychoactive effects without being subject to legislation or national control due to the substances they contain and the dynamics of their occurrence.

The effects of these substances are similar to the effects of classic drugs that directly affect the brain. These include loss of identity, hallucinations, decreased attention and memory, combined with side effects such as anxiety, dizziness, confusion, insomnia, depression, headaches and severe panic attacks, increased heart rate and blood pressure.

“Drugs everywhere”

“Drugs are everywhere, they’re a reality, and that’s what we’re trying to convey to parents. First of all, children learn about the classic drugs that are in the movies, if we talk about cannabis, what do we talk about cocaine, heroin, that everyone knows these three, given that they have been talked about a lot. Instead, among the most consumed are these NSPs, legal, with double quotes, because they are actually synthetic substances, synthetic drugs, made in a laboratory and containing all kinds of chemical compounds that can dress up in all kinds of forms, from bath salts, to plant fertilizers, to medicines, to pills,” explained the director of ANA.

Synthetic drugs are difficult to recognize, explains Ramona Dabija.

“It can be in the form of a cookie or in the form of jelly, it can be in the form of a cigarette or it can be in any other form. They have a white-brown color, have no smell and taste, and then you don’t notice it. But the difference between bad drugs and good drugs, if you will, is money and how much money the kid has on hand. Because if he has money, he will go for more classic drugs, if not, he will take these NSPs,” the director believes.

No less dangerous are medicines that are taken without a doctor’s prescription, in particular paracetamol in combination with other substances. Cough syrup, energy boosters, even banana peels and acetone are readily available and can be psychoactive when combined with other substances.

“For two seconds, it gives them a sense of well-being that they are invincible. Negative side effects, including behavioral or mood changes such as euphoria, confusion, agitation, acute psychosis, aggressive, violent, and self-destructive behavior. Toxic effects associated with the consumption of this substance include hypertension, hyperthermia, sweating, headaches, palpitations, convulsions, hallucinations and paranoid episodes,” says Ramona Dabija.

It is a shame to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist

The ANA recommends that parents keep an open mind with their children and be aware of any changes in behavior as these may indicate that the young person is not feeling well.

“Know that every time we go with the kids and the kids come, contrary to appearances, they come to the National Drug Enforcement Agency, because a lot of the prescriptions (ed.: for drugs) know what they’re telling us too , that it is still practiced among them,” asserts Dabija.

Young people can attend drug information sessions, but after the first three sessions they need parental consent, causing children to stop attending the sessions.

“The National Anti-Drug Agency has a program aimed at adolescents at risk of drug use or adolescent users. They can come to the information session three times without their parents’ consent. The fourth time the father also has to come, and often we stop here, because parents often refuse to provide specialized help to the child, because in Romania it is still a shame to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist,” he told HotNews. .ro, ANA Directorate.

Ramona Dabija also said that the ANA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is working on a procedure to create a “safety net around children” when it comes to drug use. She emphasizes the importance of parents talking to their children, and notes that teachers should also report when they see changes in a child’s behavior.

Principal of “Caragiale” college: “I called the police, everything remained the same” / “Parents react violently”

In March of this year, the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) took more than 20 people to trial in the case of drug trafficking in high schools in Bucharest.

In this case, several school principals drew attention to the fact that they cannot control the phenomenon of drugs in the institutions they manage, because teachers do not have the right to control students in their school bags or pockets.

Andrea Bodea, head of the national college of IL Caragiale, said she also reported to the police that some students were using drugs, but faced a “violent and aggressive reaction” from parents who allegedly threatened to take her to court.

• “We are not only aware, we have also informed the parents. I sent it everywhere.

• I don’t necessarily agree with the idea that the managers knew. It also hurts me personally. This is a school whose image I worked very hard on.

• The reality is that there is an alarming increase in the use of illegal substances in schools, in all schools.

• I informed my parents when I found out. Parents are the ones who, at least in my experience, react violently and aggressively to me because they demand proof.

• You understand that I cannot go to the restrooms if I have a suspicion or a student tells me something is going on. I’m standing outside. Parents come when they are called to school and tell me, “I’m going to sue you! what about my child I want proof,” Bodea said at the time Euronews Romania.

“I called the police and everything remained the same”

She also said that as principal, she cannot search students’ school bags, so she has to call the police when she learns that drugs are being used in the high school restrooms.

• “I don’t think there is a director who has any evidence. We are not allowed to search their bags if we have suspicions. Excluded from their search is out of the question.

• I called the police, I called the emergency services, and everything remained the same. (…)

• I told my parents that it seemed normal to me. It’s not that things were hidden under the rug,” the director of the “IL Caragiale” college also noted.

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