Age of drug usage has fallen to nine in Turkey: Doctor
Banu Şen – İZMİR
The age of drug usage has decreased to nine, according to Dr. Ülkümen Rodoplu, the founding president of the Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey and council member of the European Society of Emergency Medicine.
“In [the western province of İzmir] last week, a nine-year-old child was brought to the hospital for addiction treatment,” Rodoplu told daily Hürriyet.
“Generally, youth try [drugs] out of curiosity with the belief that nothing will happen from one use. But the problem starts there. Drug addiction can come from one use,” said Rodoplu, adding that there has been a surge in Turkey, especially in the consumption of bonsai, a type of deadly synthetic drug.
“If someone has an addiction, they definitely become a criminal. Some 97 percent of them commit theft and some of them are involved in terrorism. Drugs, bonsai, or other-related substances do not have the effects of giving self-confidence, courage, or an increase in performance. On the contrary, they lead [the person] to depression and suicide,” he said.
The renowned doctor also said that damage can start in the brain even from one use of synthetic drugs like bonzai. “The probability of such drugs stopping the heart abruptly from initial use is 70 percent,” Rodoplu said, adding that the death risk is very high for those who try these drugs out of curiosity and think nothing will happen from one use.
