Green Crescent hails success in battle against addiction

Turkey's Green Crescent, a teetotal society that is a household name in Turkey for its fight against addiction of all kinds, has been successful in increasing the rate of recovery among the patients they have helped.

Green Crescent Director Sultan Işık said their success rate is measured based on one year in the life of a recovering addict. "If an applicant of our rehabilitation program does not resume his/her habit within one year after quitting, it is an accomplishment. Based on these figures, our success rate is above 30 percent, and this is a significant figure," Işık told Anadolu Agency (AA).

No official figures are available regarding drug use in Turkey, though it is estimated to be slightly above 2 percent of the total population. Işık says their work against substance abuse covers everything from education to rehabilitation. In education, they reached out to more than 3 million students to educate them about the dangers of drugs as well as other addictions such as alcohol and tobacco. "We offer free psychotherapy services to adults involved in substance abuse through our Green Crescent Consultation Center (YEDAM). They can call its hotline for free both for themselves or their relative involved in substance abuse. We invite them to sessions in the company of psychiatry experts first. The next phase of the recovery is workshops [where they go through vocational training or engage in hobbies to help them to kick the habit] and lastly, we help them find jobs," she said about their wholesome approach for recovery and their reintegration to society.

"We regularly monitor them after they recover to see how long they stay sober. Our period for total recovery is one year. That is, if you didn't take drugs again one year after you quit, you are a success. Based on this, our success rate is more than 30 percent. It is much higher if you consider those who stayed clean less than one year after the recovery process," she added.