engleski

DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION IN REPUBLIC OF CROATIA: IS OUR COMMUNITY HELPLESS?

This paper has several goals. Firstly, it offers short review of recent prevention approaches in the world, in order to give an insight in the new ways of thinking, strategies and goals, which happened because of ineffectiveness of the old ways. Contemporary approach to the drug abuse prevention has significantly changed during the past fifty years. This is probably a result of increasing number of scientific research, but also of change in social awareness, which is turning in the direction of humanization, liberalization and democratization of the society. Secondly, the paper presents the situation in drug abuse prevention in Republic of Croatia, which is far from satisfying. The preventive efforts in our country are primarily oriented toward deterrence and repression, and are not based upon scientific results. There are no clear practical ways of including the community in drug abuse prevention, although the National drug abuse prevention strategy does provide theoretical guidelines. Thirdly, the paper will try to analyze some questions concerning the causes of such unsatisfying situation. Some of the main causes of such situation are identified as low level of social awareness, lack of knowledge about foreign experiences, lack of scientifically based prevention programs, real (lack of) institutional concern, and clash between different professions. All these factors are correlated, and work in interactions. They make the implementation of theoretical ideas in practice very hard, if not outright impossible. Although certain parts of the community do have theoretically defined tasks in the community, they are not in position to accomplish those tasks. Things do not function at higher levels ; therefore it is unreal to expect that the elements of community such as family, school, kindergartens, health care institutions, churches, social welfare centers etc. will fulfill their preventive purpose.

Drug abuse prevention; drugs; community

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