Graffiti and flyers advertising “salt” are flooding Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. For most citizens this may seem a mystery, but many young people in Ukraine know these are ads for something other than a seasoning.
This “salt” is actually a synthetic stimulant drug that can be inhaled, smoked or injected.
It has become increasingly popular in Ukraine over the last five years, according to Yevhen Nerukh, the head in Ukraine of the Anti-Drugs Association international non-government organization.
“The danger of this substance is that they make a person addicted in just one month,” said Nerukh.
And with its affordability (one small bag costing Hr 280 ($11.20) is enough for five doses) and accessibility (there are at least two websites in Kyiv that sell it) its users are often school students who can be as young as 11.
“You can come across 13-year-old ‘salt’ addicts who’ve been using the drug for two years,” said Nerukh.
According to him, the drug is produced in China and brought to Ukraine. The dealers place advertising for it online along with an account number in an online payment system. Once a client pays, he is sent the address of a place where the required batch was planted in advance.
Masha’s story
Maria Sushko used to be a teenage “salt” addict. A 19-year-old living in Kyiv, she now works at the Anti-Drugs Association’s rehab unit.
Sushko was 13 when she first tried drugs.
“I tried marijuana, but I quickly got bored of the drowsiness it gave me,” she recalls. “Later I used spice and amphetamine.”
At 18, she tried “salt.” A friend from work offered it to her. The first time she tried it, she inhaled too much and felt sick for eight hours.
Sushko was using salt for two months in a row – sometimes as often as seven times a day with her friends. Sometimes they inhaled it in public places.
“Taking ‘salt’ made us feel happy and active,” she recalls. “We threw food around in supermarkets. My friend broke a leg because he had a sudden urge to run and jump over a fence.”
But things quickly took a negative turn for Sushko.
“I became paranoid and suicidal. I would accuse my mother of trying to poison me when she offered me dinner. It felt like the whole world was against me,” she said.
When she ran out of money, she took her family’s valuables to a pawnshop to buy drugs.
“I was going crazy, but it was difficult to ask for help,” she said.
A way out
After golden jewelry went missing from the house, Sushko’s parents had their first suspicions. But the last straw was when they came back home after being away for two days and found Sushko sleeping next to their white rug with a blue liquor stain on it.
“I was trying to remove the stain, and fell asleep because I was stoned,” Sushko said.
Sushko’s family called the Anti-Drugs Association in Kyiv to take her away for treatment.
The association’s rehabilitation center doesn’t use anti-addiction medicines or drugs substitutes, and instead create home-like conditions where patients drink tea, socialize, do sports, and watch therapeutic films.
At first, Sushko agreed to stay at the center for a month, but then realized she needed the whole one-year course. She was afraid she would relapse otherwise.
But having gone through the whole course, Sushko now feels better, and works at the rehab unit as a chemical addiction consultant. She isn’t fully recovered, though.
“I understand that at some point I will start drugs again. But as long as I’m here I won’t,” Sushko said.
The pattern
Around 1,800 drug addicts go through the rehab center’s courses every year, with one-third of them being “salt” addicts. It takes two years for a salt addict to rid themselves of the addiction. The relapse rate, however, is 70-80 percent.
“If out of 10 salt users that we have staying in rehab at the moment, three remain clean for the rest of their lives, then we’ll consider this a big success,” said Nerukh.
The drugs create long-term problems, such as visual and aural hallucinations, depression, and manic obsessive thoughts. Self-harm is also common.
“Young teenagers don’t even have their personality and values formed yet, so a stimulant like salt sticks to them very quickly and firmly,” said Nerukh.
The Anti-Drugs Association is now working with the Ukrainian police to fight drug-related crimes. Nerukh told the Kyiv Post that the police are planning to launch an effort to fight the spread of the small online businesses that sell salt.
“The scariest part is that because of drugs like salt, addicts in Ukraine are getting a lot younger,” he said.
