Pubdate: Wed, 12 May 2004
Source: Taipei Times, The (Taiwan)
Copyright: 2004 The Taipei Times
Contact:  http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1553
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DRUGS: THEY'RE `NOT FUNNY -- THEY'RE POISONOUS'

DPA , ZLIN, CZECH REPUBLIC

As soon as spring breezes turn warm, armies of Czech teenagers grab their 
sleeping bags and head to the wooded hills of the country's Moravia region.

But increasingly these traditional spring camping trips for young Czechs 
are raising red flags among drug-abuse counselors.

More than ever, counselors say, teen camping trips are combined with 
surreptitious searching for various weeds, flowers, mushrooms and other 
wild plants rumored to give a safe and natural high.

In Czech schools, youths these days are bombarded with health warnings 
about synthetic drugs.

They're urged to stay away from the disco favorite ecstasy and a uniquely 
Czech amphetamine produced in underground labs called pervitin. They hear 
scary tales about sniffing glue, popping pills and shooting heroin.

"But they think that whatever [drug] is in nature must be good," said Petr 
Netocny, drug counselor and director of the Zlin

Prevention Center. "So now they abuse natural drugs, like mushrooms."

And although synthetic highs are still popular, natural drugs that grow 
wild in the woods are gaining ground.

A good example is the poppy. Zlin regional anti-drug coordinator Magda 
Cernicka said area youths are now abusing the poppy more than any other drug.

A red-petal variety of poppy related to the Asian opium poppy grows wild 
and under cultivation across the Czech Republic.

The tiny seeds from poppies, or "mak" in Czech, are commonly used in pastry 
fillings and potato dishes.

Mak seed is a traditional treat for Czech children. But now teens "cut a 
little piece from the mak and take the juice" that oozes out, Netocny said.

"They put the juice on the end of a cigarette and smoke it," he said. "Or 
if it's a young plant, they can dry it for smoking."

Other favorite drugs from Czech forests include cockle, a weed billed as a 
natural alternative to LSD, and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Locally grown marijuana is an old favorite as well.

"The problem involves many different plants," Netocny said.

To reverse the trend, anti-drug educators are expanding their school 
lessons. Now in addition to synthetics, they're warning teens about the 
dangerous consequences of supposedly harmless highs.

"We're trying to explain to them that these plants are not funny -- they're 
poisonous," Netocny said. "I've seen too many young people in the hospital 
being treated for these drugs."  
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