Drug consumption is rising across the European Union, while the growing diversity of substances is making it harder for health authorities to respond effectively, according to a report by the European Union Drugs Agency.
In response, anti-drug specialists and clergy are stepping up prevention and awareness programmes in schools, families and local communities, seeking to limit the impact of addiction on young people and society.
Worrying figures
Cătălin Țone, an anti-drug expert, said the number of drug users has increased in Romania in recent years.
“Statistically, from 2022, we have at least one million people who have used drugs at least once in their lives, but in the next official report, the figure will certainly rise to around one and a half million,” he said.
Countries such as Germany are even considering legalisation, which he described as a solution that has not delivered results in curbing the growing number of users.
Father Tudor Gheorghe, from the “Saint Stylianos” Centre for the Assessment and Treatment of Youth Drug Addiction, said that “in the early 1990s and into the 2000s, Romania was a transit country for substances linked to drug addiction, but gradually it became a country of consumption”.
Life under addiction
Elena Nicolae, an addiction psychotherapist, spoke with Trinitas TV about the state users can reach.
“Everything a person does in a day revolves around using, and they can no longer engage in any other activity. The only thought is to consume,” she said.
She added that “the moment a young person realises they need help is when they feel they can no longer control their drug use”.
Treatment and psychotherapy typically last at least a year before visible results can be achieved in cases of substance dependence.
The Church’s role
In efforts to combat drug use, clergy are working alongside specialists in the field.
Father Cătălin Constantin Caucă, a chaplain at Bucharest-Rahova Prison, highlighted the role of the Church’s work in penitentiaries: “Our aim is to return to society people who are reintegrated, better, and, if possible, healed.”
Father Tudor Gheorghe also organises public sessions addressing the issue of drugs in society.
“I want to tell you that prevention is easier than treatment. This communication session is based on the idea that we must prevent drug use as much as we can. The best form of prevention is information,” he said.
Support for users
In 2024, the Archdiocese of Iași inaugurated the Orthodox Addiction Recovery Centre “Saint Maximilian”.
The centre operates with support from specialists in Romania and abroad with experience in addiction treatment.
“Illness brings a certain humbling of the mind, because you realise you are powerless. That is why we see addiction as a disease, and we want this centre to be not only a social centre, but a place of holistic healing,” said Father Iulian Negru, an addiction counsellor and therapist at the Iași centre.
The idea for the centre emerged following the case of Maximilian Herrmann, a young man who lost his battle with addiction to illegal substances.
Photo: Freepik
