“I grew up an orphan, my mom died when I was just 6 years old. My dad remarried someone else and sent me and my siblings to an orphanage in northern Albania. I left from there because I had gained a lot of vices from the wrong company and the lack of family. Smoking became something normal for me, but then I started living by stealing, selling drugs, and consuming at the same time. Now I’ve been addicted to drugs for 7 years. Heroin injection has destroyed me. When I have a lot of money in my hands, I inject up to 10 times a day. I can’t live anymore without using drugs.”
According to a study published by the Ministry of Health of Albania, some children are already abusing drugs in early adolescence. Early abuse often involves substances such as tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, marijuana, as well as psychoactive drugs with and without prescription (such as sleep aids, cough medicine, anxiety medications, etc.). If drug abuse continues into later adolescence, it can lead to the abuse of stronger drugs. Studies provide various explanations as to why some individuals get involved with drugs and then escalate to abuse. One explanation is biological, such as experiencing a family history of drug or alcohol abuse. Another explanation is that drug abuse can lead to association with peers who abuse drugs, which, in turn, exposes the individual to other drugs.
In a majority of individuals we contact in hospitals or various centers in Albania, who are already adults in age and in many cases have families, they confess that the age when they started using drugs was early childhood, around 11-13 years old.
The damages caused by Hashish (Marijuana) bring numerous effects, in certain cases irreparable, such as pronounced anomalies in brain function.
Teen Challenge Albania
September 2021