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Raising awareness on harmfulness of drugs
Belgrade,
24 June 2011
State Secretary of Health Perisa Simonovic today stated that there are around 24,000 intravenous heroin addicts in Serbia and, according to estimates, several hundred thousand people addicted to other types of drugs.
Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of 26 June, International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, marked this year under a slogan “Global Action – a Healthy Environment without Drugs”, Simonovic said that according to data from March 2011, up to 16.5% of first-year students in secondary schools had consumed some type of illegal drugs.
He specified that 7% of first-year students in secondary schools stated that they had consumed marijuana at least once in their lives, and added that all social strata in all countries of the world are stricken by the abuse and consequences of consummation of psychoactive substances. This is directly reflected on the health of people and is an incentive to engage in criminal activities.
Deputy Police Director at the Ministry of the Interior Branislav Mitrovic stressed that the goal of the police is primarily to prevent drugs from reaching schools, and this may be achieved by deploying a larger number of police officers to schools. Mitrovic underlined a discouraging fact that there is not a single municipality in Serbia without drugs, adding that the Ministry will engage more police workers to combat this problem and educate the young in order to prevent drug abuse wherever and whenever possible.
Head of the UNICEF Office to Serbia Judita Reichenberg said that around 15% of secondary school students in Serbia consumed drugs last year and that there are around two million drug addicts in Europe.
Head of the Serbian Public Health Institute Tanja Knezevic stated that from March 2010 to June 2011 four regional drug treatment centres in Serbia treated 1,057 patients.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiates and conducts a global campaign to raise awareness of the challenges of drugs to society as a whole, and especially to the young.
The campaign aims at mobilising and inspiring people to support the fight against drug abuse.
He specified that 7% of first-year students in secondary schools stated that they had consumed marijuana at least once in their lives, and added that all social strata in all countries of the world are stricken by the abuse and consequences of consummation of psychoactive substances. This is directly reflected on the health of people and is an incentive to engage in criminal activities.
Deputy Police Director at the Ministry of the Interior Branislav Mitrovic stressed that the goal of the police is primarily to prevent drugs from reaching schools, and this may be achieved by deploying a larger number of police officers to schools. Mitrovic underlined a discouraging fact that there is not a single municipality in Serbia without drugs, adding that the Ministry will engage more police workers to combat this problem and educate the young in order to prevent drug abuse wherever and whenever possible.
Head of the UNICEF Office to Serbia Judita Reichenberg said that around 15% of secondary school students in Serbia consumed drugs last year and that there are around two million drug addicts in Europe.
Head of the Serbian Public Health Institute Tanja Knezevic stated that from March 2010 to June 2011 four regional drug treatment centres in Serbia treated 1,057 patients.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiates and conducts a global campaign to raise awareness of the challenges of drugs to society as a whole, and especially to the young.
The campaign aims at mobilising and inspiring people to support the fight against drug abuse.
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