Drug addiction among adolescents in Poland - the scale of the phenomenon and proposed therapeutic and legal solutions.

Young people often believe that drugs doesn’t have a negative impact on their daily lives: they relax, add confidence, let them forget about problems, are fashionable and easily available. The first contact with drugs falls mostly on the period of adolescence then there are experiments with various psychoactive substances. The above results in the danger of drug addiction.

The ESPAD research in Poland in 1995 r., 1999 r., 2003 r., 2007 r., 2011, 2015 r. and 2019 r. shows us the scale of the problem, the dynamics of the growth of behaviors consisting in the use of psychoactive substances by adolescents and gives directions for action. According to the law, treatment, rehabilitation or reintegration of drug addicts is voluntary, but the family court may refer a addicted minor to compulsory treatment and rehabilitation.

This is justified by the lack of mental maturity of minors, which in turn causes that these people have a limited ability to make independent decisions about starting treatment. It is worth taking a look at these solutions. The offer of therapeutic and medicinal activities for drug addicts in Poland seems to be wide but in practice it turns out to be insufficient.