What is the Scope of Drug Addiction in Israel?

 

Israel, the Holy Land for Jews, Christians and Muslims, is a cultural centre for people from across the globe. Millions of individuals from a multitude of backgrounds find their way to Israel every year. Some are on a religious pilgrimage seeking spiritual connection while the curious come to experience the Wailing Wall or walk the streets of Bethlehem. This country on the Mediterranean Sea is a land of history, religion and interconnection from culture to culture. Not only is Israel at the international cultural crossroads, but it stands geographically on the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Have drug and alcohol addiction travelled these same crossroads into Israel?

Drug Use in Israel

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction collects data from individual governmental agencies across Europe. Israel is included in this coalition, and the EMCDDA has gathered and published data on Israel’s drug problem.

According to the data, the most common drug of choice in Israel is cannabis, with about 16% of Israel's adult population admitting to having used it. The next most common drug of choice is ecstasy, with about 4.5% of Israel’s adult population admitting to its use.

A separate report, penned by researchers for the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, reported that as many as 27% of Israel residents use cannabis at least once a year. That same report suggests that 2% of Israel residents use other illegal drugs at least once per year and that anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000 residents are regular drug users.

There is also a growing trend in Israel lending itself to increased drug use—it is now standard practice for Israeli youth to backpack across the country as a rite of passage of sorts. Unfortunately, it has become common to use drugs on these ventures. The backpacking youth are often out in the wilderness where there is no easy access to emergency medical services should they have a bad health response to a drug-using experience. Furthermore, this new trend is unprecedented, and public health responses have not been adequately developed to contend with the situation.

And what about drug overdose deaths? Sadly, drug overdose deaths in Israel are under-reported because coroners are not required to test and report traces of drugs in biological samples. As a result, there are only a few dozen reported cases of drug-related deaths in Israel each year, though the total number of drug-related deaths is undoubtedly much higher than that.

Drug Trafficking Across Israel

 

In addition to drug abuse in Israel, there is a situation concerning drug trafficking.

Historically, Israel has been at the crossroads of the international drug trade. Israel lies near countries with severe drug production problems (Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Persia). Israel also sits near countries with considerable drug consumption problems (Egypt, Sudan, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula).

Though drug trends have changed in North Africa and the Middle East, trafficking across Israel is still a problem.

Access to Treatment in Israel

Israel provides addiction treatment to its residents. However, treatment response is not always sufficient to ensure addicts get the help they need. For example, the Israeli government makes treatment available in the form of:

• Community-based outpatient treatment
• Regional, day-care facilities
• Mental health centres

There is a lack of residential addiction treatment services in Israel. And because drug overdose reporting is barely extant, the country’s policymakers and public health experts have no way of knowing the nation's degree of substance addiction. If drug overdoses are not reported, there is no metric for the state of addiction in Israel. Without this data, there is no significant public pressure to make residential addiction treatment available to the citizenry.

A Solution to Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Israel

 

Individuals in any country who are addicted to drugs and alcohol must have access to drug and alcohol addiction treatment services. More specifically, addicts must have access to accredited residential drug treatment.

An addiction to drugs and alcohol is a multi-faceted, dangerous, potentially lethal crisis that affects users on multiple levels. People who use drugs experience harm in the form of:

• Physiological effects
• Behavioural struggles
• Mental crisis
• Spiritual travail

A drug and alcohol rehab centre must be adequately equipped to address all of the above factors. Most outpatient facilities, day-treatment programs, and community programs do not possess the tools, resources, staff, and environment necessary to address addiction's physiological, behavioural, mental, and spiritual aspects.

Thankfully, Narconon centres exist to offer recovering addicts a pathway out of addiction that addresses all of the critical and challenging issues connected to drug and alcohol addiction. If you know someone who is using drugs and alcohol, please contact Narconon today. Please do not wait until it is too late. Do not wait until your loved one becomes just another fatality statistic.

Sources:

• https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/node/2758_bg#prevalence
• https://ijhpr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13584-019-0343-3
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5935993/
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306624X7101500113?journalCode=ijod