Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 30
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
More than a ton of drugs was seized in the Turkish province of Adana, the Turkish Haber7 TV channel reported Dec. 30.
Another 1.5 metric tons of drugs have recently been seized in the Hakkari province.
Earlier, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the fight against drugs will be strengthened.
He said that the use of drugs is one of the problems in Turkey.
"The government intends to increase the number of drug rehabilitation centers in the country," he said.
Today, there are 48,374 teenage drug addicts in Turkey. A drug called 'bonzai' is the most commonly used one among teenagers in Turkey.
The minimum age of drug addicts in Turkey is 13, the maximum being 65, according to Turkish Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (TUBIM).
TUBIM stats show that 2.9 percent of drug addicts among the Turkish citizens are aged 15-24, 2.8 percent - 25-44, and 2.3 percent - 45-64.
In 2013, some 5,214 people were treated in Turkey for drug addiction. There are 22 drug treatment centers for drug addiction in the country.
Last year, some 18 percent out of the total number of arrested people, or 23,738 people, were drug dealers.
Over the last four years, some 316,466 people were arrested in Istanbul for the use and sale of drugs. Turkey has recently tightened the fight against drug addiction.
Earlier, the Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said that the sale of psychotropic drugs without a prescription will be banned in the fight against drug abuse.
Earlier, Davutoglu said that drug traffickers would be prosecuted as terrorists in the country.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
edited by CN