A few words about drugs
Drug addiction is a serious problem. It’s like a disease which has spread all over the world. Russia is not an exception. Nizhny Novgorod is not an exception.
Like any other disease and any other addiction, drug addiction should be treated. Moreover, it can be treated, if an addict is ready to get rid of his addiction and start a new life. Different medical centers and hospitals play a significant role in such situations as doctors can control patients’ well-being and help them to cope both with mental and physical problems caused by drugs.
To go deeper in this topic, I’ve googled some medical centers for drug addicts located in Nizhny Novgorod. There are quite a lot of them, I’d say. One of them is located downtown and specializes in rehabilitation of drug addicts and addiction treatment. Moreover, there is an individual approach to patients, starting from the drug which the patient is addicted to, and ending with the stage of addiction, of course. The conditions depend on the price — the more comfortable, the more expensive — but the fact that there are such centers gives me hope that people who need help will get it.
Talking about treatment, this help should include psychotherapy and some medications, first of all — this was the first thing I couldn’t help mentioning in my table. Also I think that some physical exercises would be very useful for an addict’s body.
As for punishment, I’d punish those who peddle drugs. I know that there are people who both peddle drugs and use them, but peddling is horrible and egoistic, because people start ruining the lives of others, not only their own.
Talking about those who only use, compulsory treatment would be more effective in this case. From some angles it may seem to be a punishment, but mostly it’s help.
However, treatment and punishment are not the only aspects that should be well thought over. It’s also important to develop a great strategy in prevention of drug addiction so that there wouldn’t be more addicts. In this case some educational programs should be included in school and university plans (because mostly teenagers are vulnerable to such a nasty addiction). There should be some educational movies and lectures on this topic. Lectures can be absolutely different: a drug addict in the past can come to school to tell about his sad experience, or research on some safe things which may give people the same feeling of happiness and euphoria as the drugs. It’s important to show people that drugs are not a way out, not entertainment. Drugs are a trap. A trap that is quite difficult to escape.
