Growing in number, decreasing in age

News Centre

The Field Research Centre (SAMER) has prepared a report on substance abuse among youth in the districts of Bağlar, Ergani and Silvan in Diyarbakır. The study assessed the reasons why young people turn to substance use, risk factors and the influence of their social environment.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a total of 1,514 young people as part of the study. The report reveals that addiction is a structural problem that begins at an early age, spreads through the social environment and becomes increasingly permanent. It explains that disengagement from education, economic insecurity, the weakening of the family structure and the inadequacy of public support mechanisms are the fundamental factors that fuel addiction.

The report found that substance use had become commonplace in daily life in these districts, emphasising that cannabis use in particular had been normalised among youth.

Of the 600 young people interviewed in the Bağlar district, 45.4% stated that they currently use drugs, while 23.4% of the 500 young people in the Ergani district stated that they use drugs, and 48.4% stated that they use drugs from time to time. Of the 414 young people in Silvan, 37.5% stated that they use drugs.

The report, prepared based on field research, emphasised that drug and stimulant use is a structural problem that is widespread to an extent that cannot be explained by individual reasons, begins at an early age, and becomes permanent. The report stated, ‘It has been determined that the age of first exposure to drugs has fallen to childhood, that use is largely spread through peer groups, and that drug use has become normalised among young people.’

UNDER THE AGE OF 10

According to the study, 52% of young people using substances in Silvan were under the age of 18, while 8.3% of participants stated that they first encountered substances at the age of 10 or earlier. In the Bağlar district, the age of initiation into substance use is concentrated in the 12–17 age range at 70.1%. However, the fact that 1% of users first tried the substance between the ages of 5 and 11 reveals that the risk of addiction extends back to childhood in this district as well. According to data obtained in the Ergani district, 9.4% of interviewees stated that they first encountered drugs between the ages of 5 and 11, while 65.6% stated that they first encountered drugs between the ages of 12 and 17.

The report stated: "Disengagement from education, low educational attainment, unemployment and lack of social security push young people into prolonged periods of unregulated idleness; this constitutes one of the fundamental risk factors that fuel addiction. Consequently, youth addiction is a social risk area with social, economic, cultural and political dimensions. A lasting solution depends on the implementation of preventive, rehabilitative social policies, rather than security and punishment-focused approaches, and on addressing structural problems in the region in a peaceful and rights-based manner."

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Sayısı artıyor, yaşı düşüyor, published in BirGün newspaper on December 30, 2025.