Drug Addiction in Romania Brings Matter to Supreme Council of Defence

The incidence of drug addiction and drug consumption in Romania is so high, especially among teenagers, that the Supreme Council of Defence, coordinated by Romania’s President, considers this issue a priority to be solved. The matter will be discussed and addressed next week during the Council’s meeting in Bucharest.

I have decided to include this topic on the agenda of the next Supreme National Defense Council meeting. The effects, the scale, and the societal challenges of drug use, especially at an early age and in schools, are a severe challenge to individual and national security.

President Iohannis in a speech given Monday at the start of the school year

Drug abuse is so severe in Romania that almost one in ten drivers stopped in traffic are under the drug influence. The phenomenon has been lost out of the local and national authorities’ control. Romania has become one of the most significant Eastern European countries where drug traffickers gather billions from illicit activities.

According to the latest official data on drug consumption in Romania, 10.7% of those aged 15-64 have used at least one type of illicit drug during their lifetime (experimental use), while 6% have also used it in the last year (recent use). The highest consumption rates are among the young population (15-34 years). Adolescence is the period with the greatest vulnerability to initiating drug use, with the lowest age of onset being declared for the use of new psychoactive substances (13 years).

However, during his speech, Romania’s President mentioned “educational and awareness programs among the youths” to make wise choices, an approach implemented for tens of years in Romania without results.