Turkey ranks among the top five countries with the highest number of drug related deaths among people under 25, the Diken news website reported, citing a statement from psychiatrist and professor Kültegin Ögel,
In his statement marking June 26, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Professor Ögel warned that drug use has become alarmingly widespread in Turkey and that there was an urgent need to develop a more effective and comprehensive approach to fighting addiction.
Ögel said social and legal concerns often prevented people with substance use disorders from seeking treatment. He emphasized that a lack of trust in the confidentiality of medical records deterred many from pursuing help.
“Even those who recover fear that their treatment history may come back to haunt them later in life,” Ögel said.
Furthermore, the limited scope of scientific research on addiction in Turkey presented a serious gap in the country’s response to rising numbers of addicts, and the government needed to invest more into addiction research. “Generating data is essential for tracking usage trends and developing sound policies,” Ögel said.
He emphasized that early psychological intervention was crucial in preventing addiction, particularly for people facing challenges such as emotional dysregulation, social isolation and identity confusion, which were factors often linked to substance use.
Wastewater analyses, which is a method used to estimate drug use and other chemical exposures in a community by analyzing sewage water, have suggested increasing drug use, especially among young people.
According to a report by the TATD Toxicology Working Group, in 2023, some 350,000 people received treatment for drug addiction in Turkey. Among those, 2 percent were diagnosed with cocaine and other stimulant addiction, and 0.7 percent with ecstasy and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use.
The report indicated that actual drug use in Turkey may be higher than official figures since data mainly come from criminal cases and treatment centers, with less systematic emergency room or population-based data collection. The report concluded that although restricted, the data indicated that drug use was a significant and growing problem in Turkey, with millions of users especially in younger age groups.
