BISHOP OF KITI Chrysostomos and the president of anti-drug organisation KENTHEA yesterday insisted that the group has been wronged by the Anti-Drug Committee’s decision not to approve funding for its programmes.
Greek daily Politis reported recently that KENTHEA was under investigation after using a programme by the Psychological Health Institute in Greece without having the intellectual rights and making alterations that reduce the effectiveness of the programme.
Educational president of the Institute Gregoris Lekakis confirmed yesterday that they had complained about the matter.
“This material is something that is adjusted over a period of time with a specific methodology. If this material is altered in any way, it can’t be claimed that it has reached its goals in the formation of psychological behaviours. The material has a specific philosophy and refers to specific psychological theories. This is what we mean.”
Bishop Chrysostomos accused the Committee of using the incident as an excuse to deny KENTHEA funding. He described the publication of the matter as “unacceptable” and said that he had asked for a meeting with Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides, who is also head of the Anti-Drug Committee.
“Even if this is the case (material by the Institute being used incorrectly), why did the Committee exclude 17 other programmes? We have 18 programmes and not one of them was approved because it was considered that one of them had these problems.”
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Doros Theodorou announced yesterday that there were 35 per cent less drug-related deaths in the past year compared to 2004.
Following yesterday’s meeting with American Ambassador Ronald Sleeker; Theodorou told reporters that there were 11 drug-related deaths in 2005 in comparison to the 17 deaths in 2004. He added that in 2006 there were not three deaths as reported by the media but two.
“During this year more than one incident or deaths could appear and then, for months, there could be no deaths, like what happened last year”, said the Minister.
According to Theodorou, last year there were eight deaths by April and it was predicted to be the worse year yet. But having the course in which the police were going in mind, Theodorou disagreed.
”In the end our prediction was verified. We had a very significant reduction in deaths, a decrease in heroin abuse, a decrease in cocaine abuse and an increase in hashish and ecstasy pills,” said Theodorou.
He then announced that a drug-related press conference will be taking place later this month where facts and police actions will be presented and the police’s aims for 2006 will be announced.
”We need to set goals so that public opinion knows where we are heading and in the end judges whether we did well or not”, he explained.
Drug smuggling from the occupied areas is something Theodorou spoke to the Ambassador about.
“I presented him with the facts and showed him that illegal immigration is something that bears a Turkish label,” he said, adding that he’d asked for the Ambassador’s cooperation in “obligating Turkey to cooperate with the Cypriot Republic and the EU in order to combat immigration from Turkey”.
The Minister pointed out that illegal immigration is not only a crime in itself, it brings with it other dangers, such as drug trafficking and terrorism.
“The Ambassador, who faced it with total understanding, promised that they would examine it and do what they can”, concluded Theodorou.
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