Hybrid synthetic drugs, especially bonsai (synthetic cannabinoids), are at the top of the list in Turkey as in Europe due to their cheapness and ease of access.
THE BIGGEST SCOURGE OF OUR LIVES: BONZAI
Newly invented synthetic drugs, in the words of NPISTANBUL Hospital NPAMATEM Supervisor Psychiatry Specialist Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cemal Onur Noyan, are "genetically modified like GMO corn. Effective narcotic substances are hybridized with different seeds and then put on the market." When bonsai, whose content is constantly changing, was analyzed in criminal laboratories, it was seen that 19 synthetic substances were found in the drug, while this number increased to 113 in 2015.
For example, 'skunk', a drug first encountered in Turkey in a police operation in 2014, is a new chemical used in bonzai. Although its main ingredient is cannabis, it is hybridized with other synthetic drugs. It is very likely to cause psychosis or schizophrenia in the user. Psychiatrist Noyan said, "80 percent of those who use bonsai smoke this skunk. It is very dangerous for marijuana addicts to think, 'It is weed, there is no harm'. Because they also smoke skunk. Those who produce this substance know very well how to create withdrawal and addiction in people."
'ADDICTION IS A FAMILY DISEASE'
Noyan believes that addiction is a family disease. In order to prevent this disease, the family must set limits for the child during adolescence: "Drug addiction starts in adolescence, at the ages of 10, 12, 14. The family should set the boundaries well so that the child knows what to do. That's why I call it a family disease." The fact that the family does not set boundaries or that the boundaries are permeable, change, and are child-oriented are the main factors of the disease. Noyan suggests, "Not too democratic, not too authoritarian, not too loving. To be a parent without being like a friend and to draw the boundaries." Prof. Pektaş also says that there are two types of dependent families. "Some families know everything and what is going on better than us. But they use this knowledge to defend themselves, not to take action for their children, not to understand the disease. We lose their children. But there are some parents with whom we communicate incredibly well. There were two girls from Antalya and Konya. Their families solved everything, the children were saved.".
'BONSAI DISSOLVES LIKE ACID'
Kerim (30) started smoking marijuana at the age of 18. At 24, he came to Istanbul to work in construction. He met bonsai and couldn't break away. He got rid of it four years ago. Now he has a job he loves and a good neighborhood. "Never again! I wouldn't drink if you cut off my head," he says. He tells about the life he left behind. "I didn't even know the name of bonsai, a friend offered it to me.
It took me over at the first drink and I became addicted." Kerim became unable to work because of his addiction. He lost his money, his relatives, his job. "Bonzai is a chemical, it dissolves you like acid. My brain, my mind was gone. I would foam at the mouth, my hands and feet would shake. I used to beg the dealers. I used to smoke with my friends in abandoned buildings and vacant lots. Three of my friends died with me." He looked for ways to escape. Five years ago, he saw psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Arif Verimli on TV, found his phone number on the internet and asked for help. "I have no money, can you treat me for free," he said. Verimli agreed. "He cured me in a year and a half. He became my spiritual father. I got rid of this trouble thanks to God, then Arif Hodja and then my determination." When Kerim finally smelled the scent of trees, birds and soil, he said, "I became human." He never forgets the years he begged the drug dealers, his friends who stole and sold their bodies. "It was being sold on every corner".
HONEYMOON FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF TREATMENT
Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cemal Onur Noyan said, 'We call the first three months after discharge from drug treatment the 'honeymoon period'. He goes to a psychiatrist, psychologist, takes his medication. Everything is fine. After three months, the treatment starts to falter. The main problem is between 3-6 months. They start to break away from the treatment with the thought 'I am fine, I don't need to go'. As he comes to the psychiatrist and psychologist regularly, he learns what to do in emergencies, that is, when he feels the urge for substances. It's like a fire drill. He should have a plan ready, whether he should sleep or take medication in case he has to go and get the substance. Otherwise, he starts to say, 'One time is not enough'. For this reason, we give our patients an 'Emergency Plan' when they are discharged.