Drug-related deaths down nearly 9 percent in Turkey in 2021

ISTANBUL

Deaths related to drug use in Turkey declined by 8.6 percent between January and November 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year, the Interior Ministry has said.

In the first 11 months of last year, 160 people lost their lives due to drugs, down from 175 a year ago, the statement issued by the ministry noted.

The ministry also said that more than 11,200 events were organized, and officials reached 449,000 mothers and expectant mothers as part of the programs designed to raise awareness against drug use.

Last year, security forces conducted 215,000 anti-drug operations across the country. Nearly 294,000 people were detained in those crackdowns and over 26,000 suspects were arrested.

The ministry noted that the amount of drugs seized in those operations also increased significantly compared to the previous year.

Security forces seized some 58,000 tons of marijuana, 5,300 tons of skunk, 20,500 tons of heroin, 614 tons of cocaine and 4,800 tons of methamphetamine as well as nearly 6 million ecstasy pills.

The ministry also noted that directives were sent to the governor’s offices in the country’s all 81 provinces seeking cooperation in demolishing or rehabilitating idle buildings.

“Such buildings are mostly used by drug users, thus they should either be demolished or rehabilitated. As a result of work carried out to that end, nearly 108,000 such buildings were identified and up to 82 percent [72,192] of them were demolished,” the statement added.