Antinarkota:
The Turn in Consciousness Is Necessary!
Drug
addiction has become a black reality of nowadays; it
is possible to call it a plague of
century and even a national tragedy, anyway, in scales of small cities and
frontier areas, where the drugs are most accessible.
The growth of a problem of distribution and use of drugs is increased in
a geometrical progression, the problem develops as a
metastasis, grasping all new age and social groups, penetrating
in consciousness of the people, becoming the ordinary, affirming as the integral
aspect of "low", "informal"
culture. The average age of a drug addict is
steadily reducing. It becomes more difficult to save children and teenagers from
danger of trying harmful poison and to be involved in it. It is impossible to
isolate them from a society abounding with examples of selling and consumption
of narcotic means, from a society having integrated
a drug market in itself, actually having given
a shelter to drug dealers and their obedient
customers. Certainly, we have not the same situation as in Colombia or Pakistan,
but things that take place in Kostomuksha, in
Karelia, in North-West of Russia, are terrible and unnaturally, they put under
doubt hope for the future. Here we face not only problem of authorities that are
not capable to give proper attention to the problem, and to apply those means,
that are necessary. Socio-economic complexities of the transitive period make it
difficult for authorities to ensure prevention and preventive maintenance of
drug usage in due volume. The authorities lack
experience in advanced technologies of anti-crisis management and they also face
shortage of resources. Drug sale, smuggling of
the forbidden means, the branching of a network of the offer and demand for
various kinds of drugs are not the only problem and care of law-enforcement
bodies, boundary and customs services, which simply do not cope with crimes,
multiplying and adapting
to conditions of system public crisis. Imperfection of the local legislation,
determining mechanisms of struggle against crimes connected with drugs, and
measure of the responsibility for these crimes, is also an obstacle to solving
the problem. And, at last, drug abuse is not
only problem of medicine. It is a heavy and frequently fatal disease that should
be treated and then it is necessary to rehabilitate former patients who are
exhausted physically and mentally. It is well
known, that the public health services of Republic face serious lack of the
equipment, medicinal means and financial opportunities.
Having summed up these unfavourable facts, it is necessary to tell
directly that drug abuse as the complex social - psychological phenomenon of our
time is a problem of the whole society, instead of any its separate categories,
professional or age groups. It is the subject of general care and urgent,
reasonable decision.
The greatest anxiety causes the fact that the use of drugs has become the
social standard among the youth. A disorganization of leisure, social disorder
and everyday instability and spiritual vacuum in consciousness push teenagers
in embraces of disastrous enthusiasm allowing to be removed from a reality.
Frequently in the youth companies the organized or spontaneous, direct or
indirect propaganda of narcotic "pleasure",
iridescent dreams "of the changed" consciousness get accustomed.
In
the advanced countries of the world it is fashionable to be healthy and
beautiful, physically and intellectually advanced, active and independent. This
style has not established yet in our society. Lots of explanations can be found,
that will change nothing less a turn in mass consciousness happens, first of all,
in the outlook of the youth, a turn to health and self-respect, to the realized
and serious choice of the vital way.
The fact that narrow-minded
attitude to the problem of drug abuse has been established in our society, that
it has become a habitual attribute of our difficult life, is unnatural. And the
formulation itself can look rather strange: alternative activity or the
alternative image of life when we mean a healthy way of life, social and
creative activity of the young people. And it should be considered as something
natural, it should go without saying. By the way, for a long time it and was
considered so. Nevertheless, these qualities now are necessary for perceiving as
the special values, to direct public attention on them, to stimulate their
development, giving new opportunities for their realization, providing resources
and information.
The project "Antinarkota"
is developed in view of experience of work in the field of preventive
maintenance of drug abuse among children, teenagers and youth, and also in view
of local conditions. Its basic purpose is to favour comprehension
of problems of drug abuse among the youth by
wide layers of a public, the increase of level
of knowledge about danger and consequences of the use of drugs among the
teachers and parents, workers of social sphere and public health services,
employees of law-enforcement bodies, boundary and customs services, and,
certainly, among the youth. An ideological basis of the project is cultivation
of values of a healthy way of life, propaganda of refusal from drugs and
realized choice of an alternative way of life connected to sports, social and
creative activity of the person. The project is open for cooperation with youth
and public organizations, volunteers, experts
and officials, representatives of science and art, sports and business, in a
word, with everyone, who is not indifferent to degradation
and narcotic suicide of our youth, that probably, simply does not suffice
attention, advice and help. We wait for everyone who is ready to offer new
opportunities of involving children and teenagers in the organized healthy
activity, to ensure realization of alternative measures of sports and cultural
character to participate in our project. Also it concerns everyone who has
become interested in the idea, contents and forms of progress of the project
" Antinarkota ".
We hope, that the preventive campaign against the use of drugs that has
begun in the city by our project, will attract attention and interest of the
public, will not leave indifferent the social workers and public figures, doctors
and teachers, and of course, the youth.
Konstantin Barezhev,
manager
of the project "Antinarkota"
Published
in Kostomuksha News January
24, 2002