NCJ Number
137873
Journal
EuroCriminology Volume: 4 Dated: (1992) Pages: 119-127
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Drug addiction is linked to other social pathologies, such as suicide, homicide, and abuse of alcohol and stupefacients, and the increase in drug addiction in Poland has been systematic during the past several years.
Abstract
Preventive measures must be taken at multiple levels: regulatory, psychological and therapeutic, educational, and punitive-repressive. According to statistical data collected by Poland's Psychoneurological Institute, the Ministry of Education, and the police, 17 percent of drug addicts in the country are under 19 years of age and 39 percent are between 20 and 24 years of age. An estimated 80,000 to 200,000 persons have experienced stupefacients, and about 70 percent of drug addicts come in contact with a stupefacient before they are 17 years old. Young people use drugs because of the need to belong to a group, curiosity, fashion, persuasion of friends, the need to escape from loneliness, and the need to make an impression on peers. Drug addicts often drop out of school or employment, lose contact with their families, and behave more aggressively. Drug addiction is closely linked to teenage prostitution, suicide, AIDS, and crime. Factors in the decision of a drug addict to seek medical care include fear of death, physical emaciation, and the threat of being imprisoned. Various approaches to treating drug addicts are described that emphasize rehabilitation and social readaptation.