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Önder Kutlu & Erhan Örselli & Veysel Babahanoğlu
The field study was carried out in accordance with the sampling plan determined du-
ring 03-20 June 2016. A total of seventeen interviewers and two field supervisors were
involved in the questionnaire application. After completing the application phase of
the study, the data in the questionnaire forms with consistent responses were coded
and loaded to the SPSS 16.0 program and then the analysis phase began.
The findings of the study can be summarized as follows:
• Participants mostly regard drug addiction as a common (social) problem. The prob-
lems that individuals with drug addicts in the society experience nowadays have
gone beyond an individual health problem. In this context, it is seen that beyond
being a one-dimensional problem; the problem of drug substance has become
today a multidimensional and complicated problem affecting society through diffe-
rent ways in socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political aspects.
• Participants think that drug addicts meet/know those kinds of substances in en-
tourage for the first time. Prevention policies aimed to avoiding the emergence of
the problem create the most important issue of fighting with drugs. In this context,
the biggest task for preventing the young people/users from falling into the drug
traps involves the family/parents.
• When the answers given by the participants are evaluated, the attitudes of the pa-
rents regarding the choice of friends and the choice of the entertainment place to
be visited are considered to be very important. If the parents can ensure that their
children are more cautious about those issues, and if they can raise awareness of
their children, an important step will be taken to prevent the use of drugs.
• Approximately one quarter of the respondents (25.1%) stated that they had a drug
addiction or drug using kinsmen/friends in their immediate surroundings. This re-
sult is very thought provoking. This result should be evaluated as an indication that
the drug users today are at a level not to be underestimated.
• The proportion of respondents, who had ever used any drug or stimulant substan-
ce to date, is 8.4%. When the findings are evaluated, it is probable that individuals
may have responded the questions, which constitute a subject of crime and mo-
rally undesirable by society, in the direction of “social expectation” instead of the
correct answers.
• 53.9% of the respondents stated that they had met a drug addict before. This
result shows that a significant proportion of young people are exposed to drug
addicts during their daily lives.
