Single people are more prone to use drugs compared with those who are married, a survey by the General Directorate of Security conducted with drug users questioned for drug-related crimes has revealed.

To delve into the causes of drug addiction, the police's counternarcotics department is carrying out the "Narkolog" project which studies those who were detained for drug use. Drug users volunteer for the study where they were interviewed about their drug use, to help authorities collect data about the scale of addiction.

The 65-question survey was conducted among 21,268 people who volunteered to participate after they were detained or questioned for drug use in 2019. While 60.1% of participants were single, 31.9% were married and 34.2% have children. Among them, 86.5% said that they were single when they used drugs for the first time, while 12.2% of them said they were married.

The survey shows the average age users first start using drugs is 20.8, and 15-24 is the riskiest age group for using drugs.

Some 36.1% of users tried drugs out of curiosity while 18.7% tried it "after being introduced by friends." Another 16.6% say they tried drugs with the effect of aping someone.

More than 89% of survey participants say they live with their parents while 7% of them live alone. Some 54.5% of them said that they have a regular job, while about 30% noted they are unemployed.

Turkey is more known as a transit country for drug smuggling between Europe and Asia. Though the country largely boasts success in counternarcotics operations, drug abuse remains a problem. Synthetic drugs in particular pose a threat to the country's youth. There are no concrete figures regarding the rate of drug use in the general population, but a police report from 2019 shows that 657 people died of drug use in 2018. Last years’ reports revealed that almost half of the deaths were the result of synthetic cannabinoid use.