Drug addiction is evil and it can create serious problems for society. People must fight against drug addiction together as one. In order to prevent the severe consequences of drug addiction, awareness must begin in elementary school.
The Police of Armenia periodically publish the summaries of researches that they have conducted on the process, geographical information and results of the “hemp-poppy” drugs.
Police divisions find and eliminate all drug plantations. There are tons of green hemps and their geographical location includes literally all of Armenia. The police find and eliminate both wild and cultivated plants.
One of the dangers of hemps is that you can find it everywhere. Some don’t even consider it a drug, but rather a type of cigarette. Adolescents and minors run a high risk factor because it is so easy to get attracted and commit an error; after all, it is so usual to find drugs and they can be bought at a reasonable price. The fight against drug addiction must be in the center of attention of society and police. Drug addiction can not be fought against only with the help of police. During the first nine months of the past year, there were 461 criminal cases having to do with drugs-compared to the 339 cases of the year before that, there has been a rise by 36.0%, in other words, 122 cases. Out of the cases, 275, or 59.6% of them, were cases having to do with illegal circulation of drugs and that number has reduced by 35 (310 in the first 9 months of 2004).
In 2005, there were cases of minors involved in drug addiction. However, there are still such cases. Police have also encountered some drug addicts who not only use the drugs, but also sell them. The drug addicts primarily sell the drugs to people who can pay beforehand. The worst thing is that 90% of drug addicts have families to take care of. There are times when police officers receive calls saying that this or that drug addict steals jewelry, money, a cellular phone, or for example, any valuable item that he or she can find in someone’s home. In 2005, Anna M., born in Yerevan in 1964, was arrested by the Chief department of the Police of Armenia. Police suspected her of importing drugs. Police searched, found and confiscated packets of drugs which contained 98 grams of heroin. Thanks to the operative searches, police found out that Anna had received the heroin from the city of Istanbul and had illegally imported it to Armenia. Until then, the workers at the department for fighting against the illegal circulation of drugs have found out that Zh. Maloyan, who is a Yerevan resident and has once been condemned, has illegally imported approximately 1 kilogram and 300 grams of heroin to Armenia with the help of R. Vardevanyan from the Ararat Marz. The price of the heroin exceeds 100,000 dollars in the shady international market.
P.S. This table shows the “Illegal drug circulation trend’ based on the “Trend of Criminal Cases from 1991-2004” presented by the Police of Armenia.