Drug abuse
This is a preview of my work that I had done in the past three months as part of my project on drug abuse in Slovakia. I documented the life within the premises of two drug rehabilitation facilities in Slovakia. Altogether, there are 11 such centres in the country.
In most cases, the drug rehabilitation programs last about 12 months and its aim is to help former drug addicts to get a job and start a new life without drugs. The patients undergo group therapy and working therapy. The facilities I have been to house 12 patients each, mostly boys between 17 and 25 years of age. Most of the boys used heroine, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and other hard drugs. Before he or she is enrolled into a rehabilitation facility, a patient must undergo detoxification treatment in hospital. Such treatment usually lasts for 3 months.
Slovakia is an important crossroad of drug export route from Asia to Western Europe and the drug problem is on the rise. Within the period of 1994-98, the number of those who had tried any kind of addictive drug at least once, rose from 6 to 10 per cent, within the entire population of 5 million.
