A TOTAL of 33 drug-related deaths took place between January 2004 and January 2006, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (EKTEPN) announced yesterday.
Announcing the results of the Centre’s 2005 annual report, EKTEPN chairman Neoclis Georgiades revealed that 2004 had seen 17 drug-related deaths, of which three were indirectly caused by drug abuse. In 2005 there were eight deaths, of which two were of indirect causes. There have been two deaths in 2006 so far.
Georgiades described indirect deaths as those that are not a direct result of drug abuse, such as accidents and suicides. He added that most indirect deaths were caused in car accidents.
Just nine per cent of those who died were women. The substances involved were 73 per cent heroin, 15 per cent cocaine and 12 per cent other substances.
He noted that 33 per cent of victims were aged 25-29, and another 25 per cent between 20 and 24; 21 per cent were aged 35 and above and four per cent aged 15-19.
According to the report, drugs are most frequently brought in through the occupied areas.
According to Georgiades, there are currently 1,400 problematic users in Cyprus, the equivalent of 0.4 per cent of the island’s population.
Studies indicated that 17 per cent of users had admitted to using a needle at least one, while on average, drug abuse lasted for six years.
Georgiades also mentioned that according to the Mental Health Services, a high percentage of prison inmates are drug addicts who have asked for help and therapy. According to the Drug Squad’s 2004 annual report, 515 drug-related criminal cases were recorded in Cyprus, involving 639 people. The majority of cases involved cannabis, though there was an increase in heroin-based crimes.
Concluding, Georgiades announced that the EU’s drug strategy was to ask member states to adjust preventive measures for the use of drugs in prisons and create programmes for inmate drug addicts.
EKTEPN was founded in 2003 and, with the help of EU experts, put into operation in March 2004. The Centre is supervised by the Antidrugs Council and has recently joined Reitox, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
The Centre’s role is to collect, analyse, study and evaluate information relating to addictive substances in Cyprus. The aim is to create a valid, objective and indicative image of the island’s drug phenomenon.
Each year, EKTEPN will issue a report, giving a detailed account of the drug situation in Cyprus during the previous year.
The centre’s activities are evaluated by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and locally by those in charge of the political strategy against drugs.
