State to help pay for rehab of addicted students
Welfare Ministry and Israel Anti-Drug Authority will launch four-month rehab program for drug and alcohol abusers targeted at backpackers, students. Program will also take action to prevent deterioration of 'light' users
The State will fund a rehab program for students and backpackers who became addicted to drugs during their travels or studies. The new program will be held in a village in the north of the country.
For the first stage, the Welfare Ministry and the Israel Anti-Drug Authority allocated 25 treatment beds per year for drug and alcohol abusers. The program is not necessarily aimed at "heavy" users per se, but is open to users along the entire scale of addiction.
Dr. Amnon Michael, director of Haderech, which will operate the program, said that the program will make treatment available to users of marijuana and its derivatives and alcohol who may not necessarily be considered addicted, but are predisposed to the risk of real deterioration in the absence of an in-patient treatment program.
Short preventative treatment
Dr. Michael explained that treatment provided in the program will be administered over a four-month span and will focus on individual attention to the participants alongside limited group activities.
"Many users use light drugs or consume alcohol in a way that does not interfere with their routine living, but does not allow them to quit on their own," said Dr. Michael. "If the drug use would continue, it could likely lead to the use of 'heavy' drugs or increased alcohol consumption that will significantly damage their lives. Short preventative treatment in the program can allow them to continue on with their lives and fully function in society."
Figures from the Israel Anti-Drug Authority indicate that one third of students regularly use light drugs. In addition to them, hundreds of Israelis traveling in the East are exposed to various hallucinatory drugs that they have a hard time stopping upon their return home.
According to estimates, the new program could aid in the rehabilitation of 75 Israelis within its first year of operation. Haderech hopes that the State will decide to funnel additional funds into the program in the future for 100 treatment beds a year.
"In light of the project's success, which has resulted in the rehabilitation of dozens of participants, we will expand the program during over the summer months in order to allow students and other young people to take the opportunity of summer vacation to quit drugs," said Dr. Michael.
