Drugs are becoming cheaper

Drug addiction, along with famine and incurable diseases, remains one of the major global challenges today. Azerbaijan has officially registered about 28,000 drug addicts, and they all need rehabilitation, which, alas, not everyone is getting for various reasons.

Disease

According to UN figures for 2012, there are about 200 million drug addicts in the world. This is approximately 3 per cent of the seven billion people. And the number is growing steadily. In Azerbaijan, statistics are no less threatening. According to the State Statistics Committee for 2012, the number of officially registered drug addicts is 27,900. According to Deputy Minister of Health Elsevar Agayev, this figure is increasing by 1,000 annually. Of course, we are talking about the official data. As far as the exact number of drug addicts is concerned, no one knows it.

The main statistics of drug addicts in the world are "lovers" of soft drugs, mainly marijuana. In Azerbaijan, it is the other way round. According to the head of the working group of the State Anti-Drug Trafficking Commission, Araz Aliquliyev, here 80 per cent of those registered use hard drugs. In addition, the contingent of those affected by this sad addiction is much younger in our country. If in 2011 the average age of drug users was about 30 years, now even 17-year-olds are affected by this harmful habit.

The contingent of drug users has also changed, the chief narcologist of Baku, Lyudmila Cafarova, said in an interview with R+. If before 90 per cent of drug users were affluent - how else can you satisfy your harmful need given the high cost of drugs, now addiction has already spread among middle class and poor people. "The problem is that medicines are getting more expensive, but narcotics are becoming cheaper," Lyudmila Cafarova says. "In addition, almost all pharmacies freely sell such medicines as the analgesic drug Lyrica and eye drops Tropin. Addicts use them for injections. The consequences of their use as an injection are terrible."

Rehabilitation

The main problem in the treatment of addiction is the lack of centres for psychological and physical rehabilitation. "A huge role in treating drug addicts is allocated to psychological and psychotherapeutic work with them," says Lyudmila Cafarova. However, she adds that, strictly speaking, no one can guarantee complete "recovery". "It's like any chronic disease such as diabetes, AIDS and others: if you use the correct diet and lead an appropriate lifestyle, you can live a long life with these diseases." The same applies to drug addiction. "In this case, we are talking about long-term remission: the only difference is that, as I tell my patients, it is in their own hands to develop or stop the disease." The narcologist says that the family plays a fundamental role in this issue.

"Prevention and barring children from potential hazards is of great importance. But it should be noted that the family's tolerance of the ailment often has ugly consequences: the family cannot cope with the drug addict, indulges him in everything and give him money for a new dose out of pity. The addict secretly hates them because he has to beg them for money in a humiliating manner and despises them for their weakness. At the same time, encountering his parents' firmness, he must somehow respect it. Therefore, parents should be very tactful in order to conduct the right policy," our interviewee emphasizes.

An important method in the rehabilitation of patients is not just getting rid of their physical suffering and restoring normal metabolism, but also psychological work with them. Unfortunately, there are no psychotherapeutic specialists in Azerbaijan who deal with addiction. And actually, there are very few doctors who can help the addict. Because of this, patients have less faith in the treatment and less hope to return to normal life. According to Dr Cafarova's statistics, 50-60 per cent of patients have lengthy remission, and they become normal individuals again, lead healthy lives and build their own family.

In Western countries, rehabilitation centres are widespread. They use special measures to return drug addicts to normal life. "With the disappearance of drugs, a void appears in their lives, which should be filled," says the narcologist. "And to this end, they are engaged in hard physical labour; in addition, each patient is treated individually, for example, a painter is given a chance to draw and a musician - to compose music. Thus, they not only return the old skills, but can also acquire new ones to get out of the centre with a speciality and return to normal life faster."

In Azerbaijan, there is no such practice yet. And the authorities should take care of a complete drug rehabilitation programme, which includes not only physiological, but also psychological aspects of getting rid of this addiction. "Be alert and attentive to your children, drug abuse is a canker that could knock almost on any door. But at the same time, do not forget that the resolution of this problem largely depends on you," the expert said.

The problem of rehabilitation is particularly acute if the addict lives in the province. Aytan, who has a drug-addicted brother, says: "In any kind of weather, we had to get up early in the morning, and on an empty stomach, go to the therapy centre and queue. For an addict, who is also HIV-positive, it is an ordeal." According to Aytan, even if Sumqayit has a narcological centre, the conditions there are terrible: lack of drugs, medical staff and doctors' inattention. "My brother was receiving treatment at the republican narcological dispensary, but it was very hard. There are not enough doctors. In addition, they do not pay attention to the patients, leaving them to their fate and nurses. There are very few nurses as well," Aytan says.

As for the therapy that is used, according to the psychiatrist and narcologist Asif Kangarli, all its forms, including methadone, do not give too comforting results. "Medicines can rid you of withdrawal pains, restore normal sleep and the functioning of internal organs, but they cannot save people from addiction. This requires one's will and courage," the doctor said.

Features of local drug addiction

It's no secret that the Eastern mentality leaves its mark on many areas of our society, and drugs are no exception. According to Cafarova, one of the facets of our way of thinking is that drug addicts are rarely perceived as ill people, on the contrary, drug addicts are considered the dregs of society and are inevitably likened to "criminals". "You cannot deny it fully. Indeed, the vast majority of drug addicts are more often involved in crime. In order to get money for another dose, they have to steal and even kill," the doctor says.

But at the same time, the expert said, it is undeniable that our eastern values are able to do a very good favour to addicts in the context of their rehabilitation at home. "I was visited by colleagues from different countries, from the West," says the doctor. "They were amazed by the fact that a drug addict in our country often does not turn into the dregs of society! He lives at home, and his parents treat him tolerantly, which is striking for the Western way of thinking, keep him clean and even try to cure him. Sometimes, 70-year-old men bring their 40-year-old children for treatment. This is a very positive development," the narcologist says. In the West, children usually leave the family at 18 years, and drug addicts most often gather in groups in dark corners and lead an anti-social way of life. Naturally, it is harder to get them out of these conditions.

The family and its support, according to the physician, play a major role not only in matters of recovery from drug addiction, but also in its prevention. "It is very important for drug addicts to speak out and tell how they came to such a life, and the family is often horrified by these revelations and is not always willing to listen. In fact, you need to listen to what a drug-addicted relative wants to tell you," the doctor says.