Jean Toshchenko
Questions
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Doctors tend not to talk about "recovered drug addicts," and prefer the term "inactive addicts" those who dont use drugs right at given moment. In your opinion, is it not possible to get rid of this label? Even in the opinion of drug treatment experts, patients remain forever addicted. How can the modern society be taught to have an adequate attitude toward former drug addicts and consider them as a part of the society?
In the scientific term, the life with a drug addict brand is called stigma. I think that the fear of being branded is quite exaggerated. We must create societies, groups of anonymous drug addicts (modeled on groups of anonymous alcoholics) and then the society will not judge, but rather encourage and support those people who have escaped from such trouble. We must do something, to make a person proud of the fact that he saved his life, and the society must encourage this behavior.
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In you opinion how important is parental education and relationships within the family in preventing drug addiction?
If the family wants to protect the child from all possible deviations in the form of alcohol, drugs, etc., every day, it should be living for the common interest. And this is not a banal statement. Parents must be involved in all the activities together with their children, spend their vacations together, organize joined activities up until their kids will reach the adolecsence. My experience and knowledge of this problem shows that youth involvement in drugs begins with the lack of proper attention to the process of formation of a young person. It can be reflected in one of the missed activities by parents – either in the lack of interest in the circle of communication, or in the lack of mutual time spending, including holidays, or may be it is due to the lack of certain restrictions in the organization of personal life.
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What should be in the Internet age and growth of online communities informational methods to combat drug addiction? What do you think, what means will be most effective today, and how the state should behave in order to successfully affect the suffering of drug addiction and to conduct prevention among healthy population?
As the younger generation is visually oriented, all young people (during the classes at school, classes at universities or colleges) should be given a regular information not only about the dangers of drug abuse and its prevention, but also about the consequences of this disease with all its unpleasant aspects. This should be carried out in several versions and implemented by national education authorities joined with the special services in the form of documentary chronicles. The element of shock should be inherent in the informational policy of the entire educational system. However, I do not exclude such state actions as violent treatment – perhaps this harsh treatment will save many thousands of people.
