Almost all friends died young. Confessions of a former drug addict

Teenagers addicted to drugs dream of achieving complete freedom, universal buzz and space flight. And they fall into a close captivity, from which they most often cannot get out on their own. Drug addiction in children is difficult to treat, at such a young age they are changeable in mood and often go against their parents. Unfortunately, the price of such "whim" is very high.

At the beginning of the year, a schoolboy got into the intensive care unit of the capital's emergency hospital with an overdose. In a forested area, he found a bookmark with mephedrone - a synthetic designer drug - and decided to "experiment" with a friend in the stairwell. As explained later, out of curiosity. As a result, both were on the verge of death.

“Moreover, it’s interesting that the guy had the idea to try the drug for a long time, and he, skipping classes, wandered around in search of a prohibited substance. He grew up in an incomplete family. Together with his mother and two brothers, he lived in a hostel,” says the HEAD of the department for drug control and combating human trafficking Police Department of the MINSK City Executive Committee Alexander Sazonov - The lack of love and attention from relatives led to the fact that the child embarked on this disastrous path. Now he has been registered with a narcologist, he will be constantly under control. I will give another example. Bookmark. They called the police, reported the discovery. An investigative team arrived, seized the prohibited substance. Then, in a solemn atmosphere, the guys were presented with memorable gifts for having passed the maturity exam."

This year, the level of juvenile drug crime in Minsk has significantly decreased. In the first half of the year, 12 minors were detained for possession and distribution (in 2021 - 20 people). The numbers are encouraging. “However, it is too early to calm down, there are no and cannot be easy ways in the fight against this evil. Only the joint efforts of parents, teachers, doctors, psychologists, and public figures will lead to success. It is necessary to fight not so much against the drugs themselves, but against the situation that causes drug addiction. If we create the necessary social and humanitarian environment and form a system of priorities for a teenager, the situation will change dramatically," the source concludes.

Recently in RUSSIA there was news that the State Duma was going to discuss the issue of mandatory testing of schoolchildren for the use of drugs and psychotropic substances. In Belarus, about ten years ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs came up with a similar initiative, and a mechanism for its implementation was also proposed - to include the test in the list of procedures when passing a medical examination.

According to our legislation, it is not allowed to carry out such a procedure in educational institutions without fail. Although pharmacies sell express tests, and parents, if desired, can offer their child to take it.

Alexander Sazonov said that for the sake of the experiment, in several classes of one of the schools in the country, they then conducted a survey of parents and asked the question: "Would you like your child to be tested for drugs?" The answer was negative. Adults do not need the truth - perhaps they are also afraid of publicity, they understand that if the child turns out to be a drug addict, he will be registered, and teachers, peers, acquaintances, in their opinion, will then look askance. “Everyone wants it to be a personal secret, believing that they can cope with the problem alone. But, unfortunately, this is not the case,” Alexander Sazonov believes. “But the sooner drug addiction is detected, the higher the chance of being saved and returning to back then, ten years ago, our society was not yet ripe for such an innovation. Has the situation changed now? To study the issue, it will be necessary to hold public hearings with the participation of teachers, parents and adolescents themselves. But personally, in general, I have a positive attitude towards such an initiative."

The police are increasingly revealing the facts of involvement in drug trafficking of schoolchildren and students. Drug dealers skillfully use the Internet, and now they have begun to actively develop social networks and instant messengers. Wholesalers and retailers of the deadly potion know each other only by "nicknames". Sometimes it takes several months of hard and painstaking work to catch a criminal group. But sooner or later, offenders end up behind bars. Less than a month ago, a joint special operation of the drug control of Belarus and Russia, for example, detained 9 people involved in criminal trade. 20 kilograms (!) of mephedrone were confiscated.

In 2019, Belarus lowered the lower limits of punishment for some parts of the notorious Article 328. If earlier for a turnover for the purpose of sale it threatened from 5 to 8 years, now it is from 3 to 8. For the same crime committed by a group of persons, on a large scale or previously convicted of drugs, before the changes, they were punished with imprisonment for a term of 8 up to 15 years old. The lower threshold is now set at 6 years. In May 2020, an amnesty was passed, according to which those convicted under parts 1, 2 and 3 of Art. 328 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, the terms were reduced by 1 year, for minors - too.

“Once the mitigation of responsibility has begun, someone decided that it was possible to take a risk. The sense of self-preservation among adolescents is poorly developed due to age, and they think that they can easily deceive adults. I am for the severity of punishment. "They don't give them. What did you think? One gram of the drug - and this is several doses - is capable of killing four people," the interlocutor gives an example. and possession of a certain amount of a prohibited substance. In Belarus, the maximum penalty for a crime related to the sale of a drug committed as part of an organized group is up to 20 years in prison. On average, according to statistics, traffickers are given from 12 to 18 years".

Among the pawns come across teenagers from quite prosperous families. Parents are then perplexed: how could this happen ?! Daughter is constantly in sight, went to college. And the girl then admits that she wanted independence, to earn money so that she would not ask her father and mother. Young people want fast and big money. Especially when customers offer quite impressive amounts for a seemingly simple job: I went, scattered bookmarks and earned as much as others in a month.

“Drug dealers psychologically very skillfully process young minds. Allegedly, a high degree of encryption allows you to remain invisible,” explains the police colonel. The guys fall for such promises, but from experience I will say that we detect such "ciphers" very quickly, and often even on the first day of going to "work".

Experts believe that the main cause of drug addiction among adolescents is a lack of love and warmth. Adults always do not have enough time that should be devoted to the child. Ask yourself when was the last time you spent time with your son or daughter, when you discussed their problems, do you know who they are in love with and who they are friends with. If not, then the situation needs to be corrected as soon as possible.

Sometimes you can go for a trick - register yourself on a page on social networks, add your son or daughter as a friend and thus understand what your child breathes. The main thing on the part of parents in a difficult situation is to support the child, to show him that he is not indifferent to them, that they love him, appreciate him, and do not worry that he does not meet some standards.

Oleg, a graduate of the "Phoenix" Foundation, once learned from his own experience the strength of the brain's attraction to drugs and the degree of his lack of will in this situation. It seemed to him that he was flying in the sky and feeling happiness. But over time, I realized the perniciousness and illusory nature of these sensations. After undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at Phoenix, he believes that he managed to break this deadly vicious circle. The young man frankly spoke about his "universities" in a monologue:

- From the age of three I grew up without a father. I still don’t know where he is and what happened to him ... They say he seems to have gone missing ... He also had problems - with ALCOHOL. Perhaps his genes played such a cruel joke with me ... I got into drugs through alcohol. I was 12 when I first got drunk. Mom, in order to provide the child with everything necessary, devoted herself entirely to work. She was a leading specialist in the sales department at a state-owned enterprise. I didn't need anything financially. But the most important thing was missing - the relationship with my mother. She came home from work tired, like a squeezed lemon, and she didn’t have the strength to communicate with her son. And I wanted love and attention, which in the end, as it seemed to me, I found in the yard, in the company of older guys. I was on my own. At the age of 15, he got acquainted with soft drugs of plant origin. I tried marijuana and liked it. In our large hangout, communication revolved around drinking alcohol. The girls also drank. As far as I understand now, we were notorious children who were embarrassed to express their feelings, talk about painful things, and alcohol and drugs loosened the tongue. Mom tried to get through to my mind and heart, but I, a ruffy teenager, was purple.

When spices appeared in Belarus, I was 17 years old. This infection quickly filled the whole space. Cheap, easily accessible... Since he was young, he easily endured tremors. However, the spice took its toll: after about six months, my sleep was disturbed, mild depressions and outbursts of aggression appeared. Spice was very moody. With him I was cheerful and sociable, and without him I became like a bare wire. He quarreled with his mother, relatives, behaved aggressively on the street, in transport, in a store. Then barbiturates came into my life - painkillers, powerful pills. And in the first year of the institute I decided to try the worst thing - injecting drug use. These were opiates, poppy seeds, salts, "seeds", "bandages". All this time he rotated in the company of older guys, many of whom had criminal, a criminal past and, as a rule, used hard drugs. After the injections, I quickly rolled down. I needed two or three doses a day. Soon got acquainted with designer drugs. In short, I tried a bunch of different poisons and understood it like a sommelier in wines. Slowly began to steal. With an overdose, he often ended up in an emergency hospital. They already recognized me by sight.

The drugs caused terrible hallucinations. When I was awake, I saw that they were running at me with dogs, I heard the clang of handcuffs, jarring the shutter of the machine gun, the voices of people who were going to put me in jail. I caught the eyes of passers-by and was convinced that they were talking about me. He never went outside without a knife. He looked terrible, his cheeks sagged. I was like a skeleton covered in leather. I went through rehabilitation several times, but to no avail ... I was not afraid of absolutely anything.

At the age of 18 I already had hepatitis C, at 25 - HIV. Overdoses, coma, resuscitation - death literally held me by the shoulders. I buried most of my friends before the age of 28. Our large yard has noticeably thinned out. There are units left. Some are alive only because they were in prison for some time, others - in closed departments of institutions or in rehabilitation centers.

I am now 32 years old. In "Phoenix" for 8 months, now - in the status of a graduate. The reason for coming here is my son. My wife said that if I didn’t tie up, she would deprive me of parental rights. And that's the only thing that motivated me. I do not want the child to repeat my fate, to live without paternal attention. I thoroughly put my brains and nerves in order, my mood became wonderful. I am starting to restore relations with my family, with my mother ... I communicate with my son via Skype almost every day and believe that there is no turning back.

Experts believe that the recovery of a drug addict is a lifelong process. The path to freedom is not easy, but it is possible and real. So, in the rehabilitation fund "Phoenix" drug addiction is treated with the help of the most effective method for today - an integrated approach to the problem of addiction. After six months of being in the center, experienced specialists guide the patient further in life, helping him to socially adapt, understand his problems and not fall into the abyss again.

“Drug addiction is a chronic disease that cannot be cured, but with an integrated approach we can achieve a stable remission,” says Alexander Pridverov, DIRECTOR of the Phoenix rehabilitation fund. “A person who has undergone treatment and is in long-term remission becomes a useful member of society, there is a desire to help others, an attitude to a sober lifestyle is formed, mental clarity, mental and psychological HEALTH are maintained.Today, our graduates show very good results.Monthly we hold open days, the guys come to us with their parents.We see really healthy people who were able to realize themselves in society, became good family men, achieved success in work.Behind each of them is a lot of unspent energy and great potential.And that makes us very happy."

Elena ELOVIK,

photo of the author and from open Internet sources,

newspaper.