2024-04-15 21:39:52
On Monday, the interim results of the pilot drug prevention project initiated by the Ministry of the Interior in selected Lithuanian schools of the three municipalities of the country (Vilnius, Alytus and Klaipėda district) were presented.
“What we did – first of all, our community officials conducted security assessments in schools based on a special questionnaire, and a special action plan was prepared for each school.
As we have seen from experience, each school has its own specifics, its own unique situation, therefore a separate plan has been prepared for each school”, explained the minister.
According to A. Bilotaitė, systematic preventive measures for both student and parent communities continue to be implemented, public and private police patrols are conducted in school territories, drones are used.
As stated by the Minister of the Interior, the municipalities that agreed to participate in the pilot project show strong leadership, and the anonymous phone line for young people and beyond, where drug use problems can be reported, was especially successful.
“During the month of February-March, there were 167 such reports, 22% of which were realized.” messages. 15 pre-trial investigations have been started, in which 10 persons have been identified who are suspected of having committed criminal acts”, informed A. Bilotaitė.
So far, the results of such a pilot project, as she emphasized, are only intermediate – a broader picture is expected in the summer.
“The results are really positive – we can see that it’s working, that those soft and hard tools are really working. (…) We see that there are very clear changes in inter-institutional cooperation and the growth of competences, involvement. And that algorithm, I hope, will be approved and applied throughout Lithuania.
What we record – if previously we did not record cases of violations of the law in these schools, during this pilot we observe certain cases where violations of the law are recorded, but this is primarily related to the fact that both the school community and the community of students and parents have acquired new abilities to understand , what are such violations and how to recognize them”, said the minister.
What was the reaction?
The mayor of Alytus, Nerijus Cesiulis, explained that the municipality of Alytus was probably one of the first to start talking about the problem of drugs in schools.
“We’re not the kind of people who hide in the sand and say it doesn’t exist. Yes, drugs are the number one problem in Lithuania, consumption is there, young people admit it themselves. When asking young people whether they have tried or know, the majority of young people have both tried and know, and they don’t hide it,” said N.Cesiulis.
According to the mayor of the city of Alytus, three years ago the municipality already initiated surface tests in schools – it was found that narcotic substances were found on the surfaces of almost all educational institutions.
“Some of the schools that we’ve offered to participate and say we’re going anyway and become pilots, none of the schools want to because it’s a matter of school image.” And if the parents find out that there are drugs in that school, the parents will view that school completely differently.
But we are brave in this place, when we talked to the police officers, we invited them, we did the first experimental investigation by bringing police officers and dogs, and we just started checking,” N.Cesiulis recalled.
According to him, such an intervention by the officers caused a great shock in the entire community, and the students avoided them as soon as they thought of it.
“Many young people did not come to school that day because the teachers simply informed the parents, the young people themselves, that they would be checked.
Others came with another backpack, and others, going to school, just bypassed the school and went somewhere else, but we found in the trash cans near the school various devices, various electronic cigarettes, and we realized that a pilot project is needed to understand what is really there.” , – explained the head of the city of Alytus.
As N.Cesiulis thought, Alytus will likely be the first city to expel narcotic substances from schools, but whether it will expel them from life is not clear.
“We do everything to prevent drugs from entering schools – we build fences, we install cameras, surveillance systems, we buy detectors and young people know this, they hear it very well, but if the trade takes place outside the school, it is likely that the trade will take place somewhere else,” he emphasized. the mayor
According to N. Cesiulis, observing the extent of this pain, the attitude of parents also changes – if earlier they did not approve of having their children checked at school, now in some places 100% have given such consent. parents
“At first, parents were against it, but now they understand the benefits, and that any educator who sees a child who is intoxicated can easily check,” he said.
The representative of the police department, Mindaugas Akelaitis, noted that during the first quarter of this year, the police registered 12 percent of the cases. more crimes related to drug trafficking.
“What this means is that those crimes have been brought out of the shadows, and this very clearly indicates that the police are not only declaratively talking about the fact that drugs are a problem and paying extra attention to it, but the facts also show it,” he emphasized.
According to M. Akelaitis, the increase in crimes related to drugs also indicates the active involvement of the police and other members of society in solving the problem.
The police representative urged to continue to inform about what can be observed in educational institutions and to report cases of the use of illegal substances.
As previously announced by the Ministry of the Interior, the project involves the majority of prevention institutions and organizations – the Department of Narcotics, Tobacco and Alcohol Control (NTAKD), the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Education, Science and Sports, Health Protection, Social Security and Labor, the administrations of municipalities participating in the project, Public Health offices, Pedagogical Psychological Services, as well as the Police Department, the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, the Association of Lithuanian Day Care Centers, the Council of Lithuanian Youth Organizations, the Youth Affairs Agency and others.
The Ministry draws attention to the recent increase in the use of drugs by minors in the country. in 2023 January-August 75 minors suspected of having committed criminal acts related to possession of narcotic and psychotropic substances and their smuggling were registered, and in 2022 in the same period – 66 minors.
“The number of administrative offenses committed by minors under the age of 16 due to the use of narcotic or psychotropic substances, who cannot be held administratively responsible due to their age, is increasing. in 2022 throughout the year, 94 such minors were identified, and during the m. less than 9 months – 121”, the MIA shared statistical information.
2024-04-15 21:39:52