site.btaAbout 65,000 High School Students in Bulgaria Have Smoked Cannabis at Least Once - Report

About 65,000 High School Students in Bulgaria Have Smoked Cannabis at Least Once - Report

Varna, on the Black Sea, April 1 (BTA) - About 65,000 high school students have smoked cannabis at least once in their lives and nearly 27,000 have tried drugs in the last month. This is indicated by the data of the National Drug Focus Centre which were presented Friday by Antonia Bancheva, senior expert at the institution. She was speaking at a forum discussing the distribution and use of narcotic substances among children and young people.

Polls in the last few years show that between 370,000 and 440,000 Bulgarians aged between 15 and 64 have tried drugs at least once in their life. In the 15-34 age group the percentage is 22.8.

The most widespread drug is cannabis, followed by amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine. Young people most frequently try drugs out of curiosity, for pleasure, out of boredom or under peer influence, Bancheva said. They supply themselves with drugs via Internet sites, through dealers and even from shops.

There is a shortage of programmes working with young people who have already experimented, said Violeta Bogdanova who heads a directorate at the National Centre on Addiction. Such programmes exist only in Varna and Sofia, she added. There is already evidence of amphetamine and methamphetamine psychoses among young people.

Currently 30 methadone progammes are under way in Bulgaria, Health Ministry expert Venda Zidarova said. The government has allocated about one million leva for methadone alone. In addition, programmes for damage limitation and for psychological and social rehabilitation of addicts are under way in five cities.