The addiction hospitals can’t treat

ARGENTINA

Ricardo Kohan

Clarín

Argentina’s paco addiction is “a social catastrophe,” said Ricardo Kohan. This cheap cocaine by-product, more addictive and destructive than crack, has spread through all strata of Argentine society since the 2001 economic crisis, and our young people have been particularly hard hit. Made from the chemical residue of coca leaves used in cocaine production, and often mixed with kerosene, industrial solvents, or even rat poison, the drug ravages the body and the psyche. Paqueros—as users are known—get a brief, ecstatic high followed by an intense, all-consuming craving for another hit. Addicts in their teens and tweens prostitute themselves to feed their paco habit, and many live on the street. Tens of thousands of Argentine youths are lost to this scourge, and the government has no plan to rescue them. Courts occasionally refer addicts to hospitals, such as the one where I work as a psychiatrist, but don’t provide them with the long-term treatment needed to break this deadly habit. Hospitals are designed to treat sick people, not social epidemics. After health workers do whatever they can, patients are released to the streets. These vulnerable people need treatment centers, or they will die, consumed by the hell of addiction. “Will the state avert this looming tragedy?”