Addiction

The Health Ministry will embark on endeavors focused on public health over the next five years, primarily targeting obesity and addiction, according to a recently released strategic plan.

With illegal betting sites exposing young people to the threat of gambling addiction, experts are warning parents to stay alert and keep a watchful eye over their children to keep them safe from internet dangers.

Gambling on illegal betting sites has recently become increasingly popular among young people, even children.

In a first for Greece, a farm exclusively for substance abusers, who will be able to work in agriculture as part of their drug addiction program to gain skills they can use after they "graduate," is being planned by the Health Ministry.

Experts at the Greek Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals (KETHEA) are warning that the shisha drug, which caused the death of a 16-year-old girl in Athens last week, has spread as a recreational narcotic for young people.

Children's fixation on mobile phones and tablets begins before school and the impact on knowledge acquisition and concentration is already being noted by education and child health experts, who note that children lose interest in books, and complain of being bored when they are not "connected."

A report by the Security General Directorate's narcotic department has unveiled weak family relationships are a major factor in methamphetamine use.

Examining the latest situation of methamphetamine addiction in the country, which affects the central nervous system and triggers many physical and psychological disorders, the department made remarkable findings.

Between 200,000 and 300,000 Bulgarians are chronically addicted to alcohol or drugs. Many abuse experimentally. There are also no accurate statistics for abusers of psychoactive substances, with drugs that are legally prescribed. This is what Pavel Pavlov, creator and head of the "Samo Dnes" (Only Today) Therapeutic Center, said in an interview with BTA.

The average age of drug usage has decreased to as low as 16 in Turkey, a study that sheds light on how first-time drug users develop the habit has shown.

A recent report on the use of drugs in Turkey prepared by a platform has studied the background and latest situation of drug addicts in the country, revealing a link between physical violence experienced during childhood and addiction.

The International Green Crescent Cartoon Contest will be held this year with the theme "Breaking Free of Addiction."