Ex-addicts live with parents
The average recovering drug addict in Greece is a 26-year-old man living at home with his parents, the Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals (KETHEA) said yesterday. Eight out of 10 addicts who sought support at KETHEA centers last year were 26-year-old Greek men living with their parents, KETHEA president Gerasimos Notaras said during a presentation of the center’s report for 2005. Only one in five addicts has a steady job and most left school at 14, according to the report, which said 1,555 people were treated at rehabilitation centers last year while 3,354 visited one of KETHEA’s counseling centers. Also, 3,718 relatives of addicts took part in family support groups while 953 jail inmates attended counseling programs. Most of those on the center’s courses started using drugs, chiefly cannabis, when they were 15.5 years old. They then moved on to heroin by age 19, the report said.
