Pubdate: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 Source: Today's Zaman (Turkey) Copyright: 2014sFeza Newspaper Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.todayszaman.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4547 Page: 3 REPORT REVEALS DRUG USE IN TURKEY INCREASED 17-FOLD A report released by the National Police Department indicates that the use of illegal narcotics, particularly bonzai, a synthetic cannabinoid, is 17 times greater than it was three years ago in Turkey, and that the number of deaths caused by the substances increased drastically from 162 in 2013 to 648 in 2014. According to a report released by the National Police Department Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) on Saturday, bonzai was not even a known substance four years ago, but it has recently become widely available on the illegal drug market in Turkey. Police highlighted that there are now some 400 varieties of bonzai found in the country and the report warned that deaths caused by bonzai could increase in the near future. The report also reveals that the efforts of the government are inadequate to fight the illegal drug market, which mainly targets young people between the ages of 15 and 30. According to the report, in Turkey in 2014, one drug use victim was under the age of 15, 26 deaths were of users who were between the ages of 15 and 19, another 54 victims were aged 25 to 29 and 25 deaths were of people between the ages of 30 and 34. In addition, the lives of another 27 people between the ages of 35 and 39 were lost to drug use, as well as 26 people who died at the age of 40, eight victims aged 45 and six who died at the age of 50 as a result of drug use. Of the total, 232 people died because of the direct effect of the drugs and 416 died due to drug-use-related disease. Istanbul is by far the place where drug caused deaths are the most common, followed by the cities of Antalya, Adana and Ankara. According to the report, an overwhelming majority of users, 80 percent, get their drugs from street dealers. Another option for many is to obtain them from friends. A "friend effect" is listed as the number one reason many of those detained for drug use, 41 percent, started to use drugs. This is followed by "curiosity," at 27 percent. The report also notes that 69.74 percent of the drug users in the study are only primary school graduates and 66.49 percent are not married. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt