MONSTERS OF THE NEW ERA

„Fixing a few plates before a party for the crew, and getting one for free, is one thing. But, 300 ekseri ( esker- local slang for ecstasy) sent by mail from Prague to my home address in Skopje, is something completely different. I agreed, although I knew that it is both too risky and careless. My friend guaranteed for the success of the delivery, even though he didn’t offer to be the recipient of the package himself. ’There a package for you‘, they told me when I returned from university one day. I opened the package in the privacy of my room, my hands shaking and all. Inside - 15 colorful felt tip pens, fresh out of the factory. And each containing 20 white pills, with the ‘Lacoste‘ crocodile stamped on them. I thought about the money we would earn from their sales. My eyes sparkled.“

This is not an excerpt from a book or a screenplay, but a true story. It is only one of the many ways in which synthetic drugs enter our country illegally. The Macedonian police, with annually confiscated 5000 tablets of amphetamine, ecstasy and meta-amphetamine (2009 statistics (author’s note)), is powerless in the face of the amphetamine epidemics which has been spreading for some years now, all over the world and here. Moreover, in Macedonia to date only the international narcotics channels for the smuggling of heroin and marihuana have been cut, but not those of synthetic drugs.

On the other hand, experts from the UN point out that what used to be bathtub labs for amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy production, have now grown into „large businesses“. According to reports, ca. 80% of the overall production of synthetic drugs comes from secret labs in Europe. A large number of them are located in Bulgaria and Serbia, from where amphetamines most often arrive in Macedonia. The Bulgarian amphetamine is considered one of the best ones, produced in home labs, and is considerably cheaper than the one sold in Western Europe. Every intermediary between the producer and the end user mixes it, and adds something, so by the time it reaches the end user, it could have antibiotics, paracetamol, limestone, aspirin, baby powder... In wholesale, 100 tablets ecstasy cost ca. 200 euro, and one tablet is sold for 200-250 denars.

APOCALIPSE NOW

What several years ago used to be warning, is now commonplace. But, while Western narcotics markets are stable or in decrease, but in developing countries, the number of users of synthetic drugs continuously grows. The colorful and well-designed tablets and powders dominate the lives of young people, making the all-night parties easier to go through, melting down taboos and barriers, helping bear the boring and tense world of grown-ups. The list of users is populated by those in need of energy and increased wakefulness and brain activity, high school and university students...  

„These drugs are very popular because they are stimulants, uppers. All psychical functions are exited, the mood is improved, the motor function is exalted, brain function accelerated, communicational functions become faster and easier “, explains Slavica Gajdazis -Knezevikj, a medical doctor, sub-specializing in addictions.

NGO statistics show that ca 30.000 young people in this country encounter various illegal psycho-active substances on daily basis. According to UN and EU reports, amphetamines are third in the list of most frequently used drugs, and the number of new users increases daily. The trend today is: withdrawing from heroin and moving towards the far clearer and trendy cocaine. But, because white is more expensive, amphetamines will do the job. They don’t call it „cocaine for the poor“ in vain.

„When I started taking the sweets for the first time, I felt great. I was very confident, satisfied. I felt like this drug was invented for me. It gave me energy, it made me happy. And, then I couldn’t get out of bed. My life was a mess, I was very anxious, paranoid, depressed. The first year I stopped with everything, I was feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere. My friends who went on taking the drug, were repulsive to me, and those who were ’normal‘ I felt estranged from. As if I were strung between two worlds, one in which I didn’t want to be, and the second, after what I had been through, I couldn’t be in...“, says Iva (29). She has been clean for seven years now. She says that only her strong will and her wish to stay clean helped her to keep on and not relapse. „When the effect would wear off, I became the most horrible person in the world. I hated everybody. I didn’t feel like jumping off the window, as the governmental commercial on amphetamines, but I couldn’t stand myself, let alone everybody else. At the beginning it was harder, but now I say ’no, thank you’ without any problems. Although the temptation is big, and when I see how their eyes shine and how happy they are, I want to feel like that again, but I say no because I don’t want to go through that same hell afterwards“, says Iva.

HARM- FREE?

There is no center in Macedonia that would help amphetamine addicts in giving up. „The community is still neglecting synthetic drugs, does not see then as the social evil they are, and marginalizes them. They keep their focus on opioid drugs because they are often crime-related, but also intravenous use, where STDs and HIV lurk“, explains Spec. D-r Stavre Gramov, psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital „Skopje“.

And, while popularity of synthetic drugs grows as a response to the cheap marketing trick ‘harm-free’, and the myth that you cannot be addicted recruits new users without any problem, the global village has started to doubt that consequences on the individual and society are far more harmless than the ones caused by opioid drugs. When used long term, they cause organic changes such as high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, decreased immunity, kidney and liver problems etc. which, luckily, can be reversible, if use is ceased timely. Ecstasy and amphetamine cause sexual problems as well, mainly with erection and ejaculation, although they used to be considered love pills in the past. A very large amphetamine quantity may lead to spontaneous orgasm, but also increases the risk of heart attack. Another danger is the possibility for amphetamine psychosis that can come about after a chronic, short term or one time amphetamine dose. Depending on the situation and the personality structure, delusions, hallucinations, sound or visual perceptive delusions appear, emotional imbalance, bizarre behavior, destructiveness. That is why, in the acute phase, it is desirable that the user stays in the company of his friends. It takes several days until the user reaches normal state. Therapy is symptomatic, with a particular emphasis on treating psychological changes.

Still, the users who have knocked on some of the competent clinics are rare until now. „These people don’t feel like they have an addiction problem because there is no physical addiction. They think that they can control it, they can drive the drug with no consequences. But, there is a possibility for psychological addiction. That is why help is needed, as well as a approach and a harm-reduction program, but different from the ones used for opioid addicted persons “, emphasizes D-r Darko Kostovski, member of HOPS.