When it comes to drug use, the situation registered at the national level is a serious one. Thus, the doctors claim, ethnobotanicals represent a large part of this problem.
Drug use PHOTO SOURCE The Truth Archive
Specialists claim that, in recent years, the number of consumers has grown considerably and that, often, those who fall into the net of these synthetic products are young people, who do not benefit from a proper education.
How dangerous are these substances?
Dr. Ovidiu Alexinschi, primary psychiatrist, claims that ethnobotanicals are extremely dangerous. At the same time, the fact that they can be sold in several forms, each more attractive, is another factor that leads to the increase in consumption.
“The new psychoactive substances are the biggest drug-related problem in Romania. They are very cheap, accessible, they have tens of times more psychoactive effects than natural drugs. They are sold in certain forms, jellies, lollipops, all sorts of very seductively colored things. They are not for human use, they are normally used for animal husbandry, fertilizers, plant growth. They are poisons, they are synthetic, made in clandestine laboratories and are very dangerous“, stated Dr. Ovidiu Alexinschi, primary psychiatrist, coordinator of the NoAddict programs.
The effects, among the worst
Even if people who choose to consume such substances see, at first, only the glass half full, doctors claim that the effects can be devastating.
,,Neither the concentration nor the respective substance is controlled, because we are talking about clandestine laboratories. The majority do not know what they consume, and the effects are the most disastrous. Hallucinatory manifestations, psychosis, paranoia, depression, extreme anxiety, a lot of very dangerous manifestations can occur. Let's not talk about the impact these substances have on physical health“, adds the doctor from Iesa.
Consumption starts at younger and younger ages
Psychiatrists claim that, at the national level, the situation is serious. Thus, there are patients who start consuming such substances from the age of 12-13.
,,We are facing a real problem. Many times, those affected are guided by their family, by those close to them, to ask for help. What's worse is that more and more young people are coming who claim that they started drinking in high school, from the age of 12-13. They are very cheap and they can afford them. It's an affordable poison. Those weed shops are gone, but the phenomenon is not. Now they are sold in various areas, less controlled, even on the Internet. There are people who sell such ethnobotanical substances, because they are very cheap and offer guaranteed very strong effects. At the same time, the profit is huge“, says Dr. Ovidiu Alexinschi.
