„We will be uncompromising in the fight against drug distribution. These are tasks assigned to each police chief. I will require each one of them to convey them to their subordinates and to get results. We can no longer afford to lose the lives of our children, nor to watch this phenomenon, which unfortunately has acquired terrible proportions in our country“. This was commented on earlier today by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev after the fatal incident with a dead girl in Blagoevgrad.
„Something that is underestimated, and something that we will strengthen, is prevention. Because we are fighting the consequences of these phenomena, but prevention is missing. We have created an organization and will create initiatives to ensure real prevention," he added.
“There is prevention at many levels in developed countries, which is well-funded and is among the most important political priorities of a government. For example, in Western countries this is practiced from school through health education and explaining the risks of drug use. Such a thing almost does not exist in Bulgaria. Prevention, if it is implemented at all, is very late“, commented in the studio of “Face to Face“ on bTV, former Acting Minister of Health Mihail Okoliyski.
“There are so-called PICs - Preventive Information Centers in regional cities, which are staffed by very committed colleagues, but with zero budget and limited opportunities to enter schools, because schools are also very closed. Many schools are closed to external influences on education and do not allow such structural influence,“ he pointed out.
“They are obviously worried about the distribution of educational material. They stick to traditional subjects that do not lead to real additional benefits because they are forgotten very quickly. And children are not prepared for real life, including in terms of the use of harmful substances – alcohol, cigarettes and drugs“, the expert believes.
“When signals are noticed among children, it is very often already too late, because the child has gone through a phase of curiosity and may have already started using. Parents should approach responsibly, seek communication with the child and help from specialists – psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, narcologists“, commented Okoliyski.
According to him, it is possible for a psychologist or psychiatrist to make a young person quit if he is already using and is in an environment of use.
„But such programs should exist for children and young people in Bulgaria. Currently, there is not a single program for minors to treat addictions, including gambling addiction. There are only private programs that cost 3-4,000 euros and are inaccessible to many families“, the specialist pointed out.
„The state system has only one program – in Suhodol, which is also very outdated“, he said.