- The dangerous thing about paradise gas is that its action is fast, and after it young people want more and thus become addicted
- It is frightening that more and more women are addicted to alcohol, and young ones at that, says Dr. Vladimir Nikolov, director of the State Psychiatric Hospital for the Treatment of Drug Addiction and Alcoholism – Sukhodol
– Dr. Nikolov, according to a study by the National Patient Organization, students try drugs for the first time at the age of 14. When do you see children starting to use drugs?
– They start even earlier than the age of 14.
– What drugs do they try first?
– The first thing they use is marijuana. Keep in mind that the current marijuana has nothing in common with the marijuana that was 40 years ago. This one 40 years ago contained only 2% of the main substance – tetrahydrocannabinol. Now it is over 14%, that is, it is much stronger. Marijuana is the starting point and not all, but a large number, then switch to hard drugs.
– Can you tell roughly what percentage start hard drugs after marijuana?
– It’s hard to say. Among people who drink, between 5 and 8% develop addiction. At least 90% of heroin addicts started with marijuana.
– And since when is paradise gas fashionable?
– Heroin was in vogue in the 90s, but it is now almost pushed out of the market because people are switching to psychostimulants – amphetamines, methamphetamines and other stimulants. Paradise gas is convenient because it is sold in any form wherever you want. In the movie “Lethal Weapon” there is a scene in which the heroes, without wanting to, release paradise gas in a doctor’s office. This is the classic picture when people get drunk.
– Describe the feeling for those who have not seen the film.
– Those who have breathed paradise gas cheer up, their inhibitions drop, they say things they wouldn’t say when they are in conscious control. The other thing that can result is depersonalization and derealization. In derealization, you see a changed situation. The walls are different, the furniture too. And with depersonalization, you see changed body parts – your hands become bigger or smaller.
As with anything, an overdose can occur, resulting in accidents, hospitalization. There is no drug that cannot be overdosed.
– How long is the effect of heaven gas?
– The action is fast, transitory, you become amused, everyone around you is funny. This is the danger that the effect lasts for 30 seconds, up to a minute, and you’re still looking for it. You take a second dose, then a third. That’s the dangerous thing – you might like it and then get addicted. Basically, your life goes between seeking the substance, recovering from the substance, seeking the substance again, antisocial behavior.
– Is the combination with alcohol more dangerous? A few days ago, a 15-year-old boy fell into a helpless state after drinking alcohol and inhaling paradise gas.
– Well, what should there be in a disco – alcohol, paradise gas and various other substances. Usually psychoactive substances are mixed with alcohol and it gets more complicated.
– What is the path of those who first use weed and then use hard drugs?
– It’s different. It can be compared to alcohol. Research with alcohol, for example, shows that
dependence has not changed for 100 years
It stands at 5 to 8% worldwide, consumption is increasing, but it does not lead to greater dependence. Some may smoke weed and develop an addiction, others may not. It depends on the personality, on the character, on what you want to achieve in life.
– Are there enough centers for drug addicts for young people in our country?
– There is no. We have been developing a program for teenagers with deviant behavior for at least a few years. The idea is to be an outpatient psychiatric care center for teenagers with deviant behavior. Deviant behavior involves the use of alcohol, drugs, accidents.
The Metropolitan Municipality has centers for dependent teenagers, but they are extremely insufficient
There must be many, many more. Certainly tens of thousands use drugs. This number includes all those who use, not the addicts, but that’s where it starts. There is no addiction that happens overnight. It happens gradually.
– How long does a person become addicted to drugs?
– In a month or two, he can become completely addicted to heroin. It’s different with weed, if they start at 12 years old, by the time they’re 25, half of them are already addicted. There is no data yet on how long it takes to develop an addiction to paradise gas, but it certainly does develop a real addiction. Paradise gas inhalers are constantly looking for a repeat of the effect, and when they break their social behavior, they become totally addicted. All teenagers start out in the company of both alcohol and drugs. No one sits down to drink alone as a young man. Our patients en masse say: “I started as a teenager, in a company”.
– Do you have young patients in the clinic?
– No, here it is only for adults, we accept people over 16 years old with amphetamine psychoses, but they must be accompanied by a parent. We have had quite a few such cases.
– Can you think of a recent case of a student with amphetamine psychosis?
– Last year, a father came with a young boy with a plastered leg and a crutch. I say: “You are mistaken, I am a psychiatrist, not an orthopedist”. But they answer that they came right to me. A few days ago, the boy was admitted to the hospital with very severe pain and all the symptoms of appendicitis. But there they leave him for observation and on the third day he jumps from the window from the fourth floor of the hospital. I thought he wanted to kill himself, but he said, “No, I’ve been smoking weed since 5th grade, now I’m 8th, and I haven’t stopped for a day.” I stopped weed for the first time in the hospital”. Then he got psychosis, that is, he developed delirious symptoms. He hears that people who haven’t paid for the drugs are climbing the stairs, and he jumps out of the window to save himself. He told me he tried to save himself because he was being chased, which is just in his head. I said to his father: Man, don’t you see what’s going on? He was constantly at work, the mother – too, and they did not understand that he had been smoking weed continuously for 3 years.
– Are more men or women addicted?
– Men are in all cases more. But recently, more and more women are addicted to alcohol, and they are becoming so at a younger age. Our patients are between 30-40 years old, imagine, these are young women.
– That is, if they are already addicted at 30, when did they start drinking alcohol?
– Like girls. It’s scary.
– What preventive measures should be taken so that there are not so many children using drugs?
– In the late 1990s, the mayor of New York was Rudolph Giuliani. He declares zero tolerance for anything – whether you littered or got into a fight. Harnessing the entire media environment plus Hollywood for his campaign. It has been shown in films how the program for drug addicts works. We have the same program – “Minnesota”, we do not need to find the hot water. Media, music, movies should focus prevention efforts on drug addiction.
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