Lithuania after regaining independence is experiencing new problems. The new trends and fashions from West brought drugs. The biggest victims of this new freedom are pupils in secondary schools.
Lithuania after regaining independence is experiencing new problems, which were not so big or active during the yoke of Soviets for 50 years. The new trends and fashions from West brought drugs. Alcohol and cigarettes use got intensive due to curved understanding of freedom: one does whatever he or she wants. Lithuania is in unique and dangerous geographic position. The flows of goods, drugs and crime from East towards West are passing through Lithuania and in contrary. That's why drug smuggling increases every year.
The biggest victims of this new freedom are pupils in secondary schools. The youth is open to new ideas, stereotypes and goods; no matter either they are positive or negative. Situation with drugs is special: the forbidden fruit is always to be tried. There are some projects, which seek to abolish drugs and fight against drug using. It is like catalyze in chemical reaction: the more prohibition, the more people want to explore what is to be prohibited. Situation is getting out of control.
Mass culture also influences the understanding of drugs. Some youngsters cannot imagine techno parties without LSD, Ecstasy or other amphetamines; reggae music is also linked to other kind of drugs – marijuana. Pupils see the effects of drug using in movies, TV programs, read in newspapers, sometimes shown with minimum sense of reality. This is the main tool of propaganda for using drugs.
Now in Lithuania surveys are being done by various organizations in order to know more about drugs in order to fight with them. Of course, this information cannot be trusted 100%, because not all pupils dare to say “Yes, I use drugs, I tried them!“ The fight is condemned to be lost, so new alternative ways are established. For example new project “Að galiu“ (“I can") has a purpose not to fight, but to inform pupils about dangers and effect of drugs involving not only outcasts, but also teachers and parents. This project is only starting, so it is daring to say that this kind of activity will change something in general.
Let's see who are these young drug users and how they are living. According to ESPAD '99 (The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs) survey 21% and of boys and 9.6% of girls used any kind of illegal drugs. This is not constant using, but also these numbers of trials are included. Some of schoolchildren just tried drugs while others use them regularly. Pupils first at all use marijuana and hashish. It was found out that youngsters know mostly about these two drugs. In the second place pupils mentioned tranquillizers. These materials are legal and can be purchased in chemist’s shop. Illegal drugs can be obtained mostly during the parties or from older friends, who know some selling places.
The drug usage is mostly spread in city schools while some countryside schools still remain untouched. This is only temporary phenomenon, because surveys show the rapid increase of drug usage in general, so it is the matter of time and drugs will be in county. There were a few deaths of adolescents overdosing heroine, children of high Lithuanian authorities are also involved. This fact makes Government to do something, especially change or adopt new legislature.
Still the information about drug usage, effects and medical procedures is missing. Only information can help to appeal to everyone's self-conscious and such way can prevent young people for chasing dangerous pleasures. The initiative about stopping using drugs also should be from pupil’s side, not from the parents’, teachers’ and society, because they do not avoid moralizing and prohibition, which doesn't work as expected.