The Safer club - text 5

The Safer club

A Safer club activities used to be a part of the project “Decreasing Alcohol Misuse by Youth in Pilsen” in the year 2007. They respond to needs indentified by the workgroup “Alcohol and Youth in Pilsen”, that was established by councillor Ing. Petr Rund and is inspired by foreign projects.

B “In fact, there isn’t any club or any discotheque where alcohol and also other psychoactive substances are not consumed. That’s why you probably won’t meet club staff that has no problems with aggressive visitors. It’s also about responsibility to youths who have chosen this place to spend their leisure time and to have fun there. Preventive services professionals can make the communication about these topics easier. The responsibility for social problem cannot be applied only to club promoters,” Petr Rund said.

C The Safer club is trying to help to ensure high quality background of rock and other clubs and support their satisfactory run of nightlife in the city. The club cooperates with several Pilsen rock and disco clubs for example Star and Watt. It offers preventive services to a group of clubbers and disco-goers and encourages them to take responsibility for their behaviour (misuse of alcohol and other psychoactive substances, health damage, property damage) as well. It also tries to establish partner discussion among owners, promoters, prevention services and safety guards to ensure public health and to decrease health, social and property damages caused by nightlife, misuse of alcohol and other psychoactive substances.

D “Important part of our work is to introduce these needs and activities to public and local authorities, so that they can highlight them and ensure safer environment for nightlife. We create posters, flyers, and organize trainings and lectures,” Petr Rund pointed out.

E This project is coordinated by employees of Terénní program CPPT, o.p.s. (Outreach Program CPPT, o.p.s.) within the project DANCE-8. Costs for club staff training are not included in personal resources of the project. The main aim of the project is to create basis for cooperation, sharing experience, integral development, and trouble-shooting strategy and planning other particular projects. The success of this project depends on activities of all involved members.

encourage – povzbudit.

established – založený

highlight – zvýraznit

respond to – reagovat na

responsibility – odpovědnost

trouble-shooting – hledání chyb

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Main goals of the Safer club

2 Introduction

3 Reasons for starting the project

4 Project realization

5 Public relations

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the Safer club?

2 What does the Safer club do? How does the Safer club help? Who does it cooperate with?

3 What are typical problems of rock and disco clubs?

4 What is typical negative behaviour of clubbers and disco-goers?

5 How is the work of the club presented to the public?

6 What is the main aim of the project?

3) Explain the following words.

1 club staff

2 clubbers

3 psychoactive substances

4 misuse

5 involved members

What should the education and occupation of the people cooperating with the Safer club be? Is there any similar organisation in Jihlava? What are its activities?

Adjusted to:

http://www.bezpecnyklub.cz/en/o_projektu_predstaveni.asp

Money-lending gangs and drug problems in Czech Romany ghetto Předlice - text 4

Money-lending gangs and drug problems in Czech Romany ghetto Předlice

A “The number of heroin-addicted in Ústí nad Labem grows. The amount of Drug-out centre clients using heroin has tripled in the last half-year. The count of narcomaniacs in the centre of Ústí nad Labem is estimated up to 4000 persons,” announced Radka Koblížková, the head of contact centre Drug-out club.

B The most problematic parts are still the socially excluded localities. “We have realised the problems in the existing localities is much worse than we have estimated,” Koblížková describes. Mainly Předlice, Krásné Březno, Mojžíř and Trmice are affected in Ústí nad Labem.

C “Crime, drugs, excessive money-lending and gambling, these are the evils plaguing the neighbourhoods inhabited by Czech Romanies”, Marek Podlaha, head of the Agency for Social Integration of Romany Localities explains. “The situation in the socially excluded localities is constantly worsening and a peculiar system with its own rules independent from the outside world is often created there,” Podlaha said about the neighbourhoods inhabited by some 80,000 people, mostly Romanies. “Předlice, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the north Bohemian town of Ústí nad Labem, is a case in point. Any person coming there is immediately noticed and closely watched as are the people who meet them. As a result, locals prefer to avoid any contact with visitors as they are afraid,” he added.

D Unemployment in Předlice reaches the astonishing 90 percent, while almost everyone is involved in illegal work there. Locals are plagued by money-lenders who have forced them to sign extremely disadvantageous loans at exorbitant interest rates. Nine years ago, Romany clans from Moravia moved in. Their members got rich through prostitution, drug dealing and money-lending. They started buying property in Předlice. They have introduced exorbitant rents the residents are unable to pay. Hence their resort to usury, the daily describes the vicious circle.

E “In Předlice, a community centre Drug-out club has been established in which the agency works along with the local authorities, local NGOs, a sanitary official, a social worker, a doctor and the police,” Podlaha said. “I believe that if we are in day-to-day contact with locals, we will gain their trust and they themselves will seek our help,” he added. “This could worsen the position of the mafia ruling here,” Podlaha said. “Above all, there is some first-hand information for us. Rapid improvement can be expected in some simple problems such as sanitation, perhaps within one or two years,” he added.

exorbitant – přemrštěný

plaguing – zamořující

peculiar – svébytný, osobitý

property – majetek

usury – lichva

vicious circle – bludný kruh

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Předlice has its own rules

2 Establishing Drug-out club

3 The number of heroin-addicted grows

4 Vicious circle in Předlice

5 Socially excluded localities are problematic

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the text about?

2 What are problematic parts of Ústí nad Labem? What are their problems?

3 How many people are heroin addicted in Ústí nad Labem?

4 How can Drug-out centre help them?

5 What do we know about mafia in Předlice?

3) Explain the following words.

1 narcomaniac

2 socially excluded locality

3 gambling

4 outskirt

5 unemployment

What does the life at outskirts look like? Is there any similar place in Jihlava? What are its problems? Who helps the people there?

Adjusted to:

http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_823

http://www.drugout.cz/

Drop In centre - text 3

Drop In centre

A With spreading of street drug problem and lack of drop in centres in Prague, the founder of the Drop In centre – and the same name foundation started the project of the service mobile street.

B In general, this is the way how to simplify the contact between the therapeutic and preventative centre on one side and “drug population” on the other. Similar projects have been in existence in Western Europe and in the world for many years. The basis is to ensure the conditions for everyday route around the town. This route is a circle that connects places where the high-risk drug population is present. They can be so called “drug flats” or people who hide in the streets – people who use drugs intravenously and therefore always need clean syringes and needles. Whole groups of people live in the flats, their ages range from children to middle age. These people get to wide scale of difficult life situations, for example criminal prosecution, pregnancy of mother-users, and taking away of children…

C In so called drug flats, drugs are often also produced and sold. Therefore even beginner users often visit them. They are the only backgrounds for these stricken people. In their situation they make money in different ways. Girls often prostitute themselves for money or drugs, boys steal things, and some of them produce and sell drugs (mostly pervitin). Some of them misuse social benefits and supports – namely benefits for children and for their part disability. They do not want to see a doctor, even in the case of serious harm to health. They do not trust authorities and the police. They solve everything in their community. They are often victims of street violence.

D They use non-sterile syringes and besides share them. The program prevents them from doing namely this. However this is not the only task. Used needles are collected and in a secure way they are disposed of. This is also part of HIV prevention. We also make new contacts with drug population, which increases therapeutic influence on these people. And the contacts already made are getting deeper. In general, it means extending the activities of Drop In streetworkers. The way to make contact is active searching for endangered persons in the street. Among our clients there are also many Roma people and foreigners. Age of clients is not defined, but accent is put on the category of teenagers.

E During the year we provide information for visitors of big cultural actions about non-alcohol substances like Cannabis, MDMA, GHB, volatile substances like Poppers, pervitin, LSD etc. These substances are sometimes called dancing or recreational drugs. Some young people get into touch with the psychotropic substances at these actions for the first time. Even experienced users do no know all risks and we can influence them in this way.

intravenously – nitrožilně

prosecution – stíhání

stricken – postižený, zasažený

syringe – injekce

volatile - těkavý

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Criminal and asocial behaviour of drug users

2 Introduction

3 Recreational drugs

4 How does the program help?

5 Tour round the “drug flats”

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the text about?

2 What does the Drop In centre do? How does the Drop In centre help? Who does it cooperate with?

3 What are typical problems of its clients?

4 What is typical negative behaviour of drug consumers?

5 Name the recreational and dancing drugs.

3) Explain the following words.

1 preventative centre

2 pregnancy

3 social benefit

4 street violence

5 streetworker

Who can become a drug consumer? How are drugs divided? What are the symptoms of intoxication?

Adjusted to:
http://www.dropin.cz/en/mobilstreet.shtml

Bohnice addiction treatment centre - text 2

Bohnice addiction treatment centre

A Alcoholism is rising fast among Czech women as they try to cope with new stresses. Monika Plocová, 40, still remembers the day seven years ago when she finally realized that she had a drinking problem. She was lying on her couch, shaking and unable to get up. All she could think about was the bottle of gin. "My marriage was unhappy," she recalls. "My husband was very controlling. And so I drank to help my anxiety and depression."

B Plocová's story isn't unusual. Women who suffer from severe alcoholism in the Czech Republic have grown faster than those of men during the past 10 years. The number of women being treated for delirium tremens has more than doubled since the mid-1990s, according to statistics from Prague's Psychiatric Centre. The number of men with the condition has risen a third. Currently, there are close to 200 women in state facilities countrywide being treated for severe alcoholism.

C Plocová should know. It took her over 10 years to realize she needed help. Now she is a therapist at Bohnice, where she received treatment seven years ago, and she is the author of two books about her experience.

D It's only 8:30 a.m., but the 32 women in pavilion No. 8 at Bohnice's addiction treatment centre have already been up for two hours. Their days are strictly regimented. Half are dealing with alcoholism. Other women are battling drug addiction. The treatment for both groups is the same: When they aren't taking part in group therapy, they're making pottery, painting or riding horses. Stays at Bohnice range from 11 weeks for a basic treatment program to three months for more serious cases.

E One recent morning, 11 patients gather in a circle. Some tell their stories. A petite 30-year-old with dyed red hair talks for more than an hour about the roots of her alcoholism. She started drinking in high school, and by the time she went to university and got a job at a bar, drinking became an essential part of her life. In her lowest moments, she spent the day lounging on the couch at home, drinking vodka. She says her drinking probably has something to do with her very strict upbringing and her parents' high expectations of her. Another woman, slightly older, blames her drinking on her lack of confidence. "It's always this fear that drives me to it," she says. "Sometimes I blame the experts who are supposed to help me but can't."

F Plocová goes around the room asking the women who the most important people in their lives are. Most answer "my children" or "my family." One woman, in her 50s, shakes her head in disagreement. "I've realized here that I'm the most important person in my life," she says. "If I can't like myself, then I can't properly care for others, either."

anxiety – úzkost

pottery – hrnčířství

to battle – bojovat

upbringing – výchova

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Regime in Bohnice

2 Monika Plocová’s story

3 Plocová today

4 Who is the most important person in your life?

5 Women alcoholics’ statistics

6 Stories of the clients

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the text about?

2 Who is Monika Plocová? What does she do? What problems did she have?

3 What is the regime in Bohnice like?

4 What are typical reasons for women alcoholism?

5 How can the women stop drinking?

3) Explain the following words.

1 alcoholism

2 depression

3 delirium tremens

4 psychiatric centre

5 group therapy

Who can become an alcohol consumer? What are symptoms of alcoholism? How can people stop drinking? Who and where can help them? What types of therapies do they undergo?

Adjusted to:

http://www.insignis.cz/media.htm

A Narconon Graduate's Story - text 1

A Narconon Graduate's Story

A My name is Eirik and I am 29 years old and have been on drugs since I was 14. Recently a 13 years old girl got an overdose at a private party. It could have been me 15 years ago, but I made it through the hell and came out on the other side. At that time I started smoking hash and took some pills, I also started with other things to see if they where as good as people said. I was so lucky that I had a work the first years I was addicted to heroin.

B Actually I had everything I could wish, a girlfriend I loved, I had a good car and an apartment, we got a wonderful son, and I had one more thing, a heroin use. This made me start lying to my girlfriend and friends. The most terrible was that they didn't even know about my addiction and therefore couldn't understand what was going on with me.

C During the time when I started using more and more drugs, the things slowly fell apart. I lost my job, I couldn't pay the bills, my drug use cost 1700-2200 Euro per week, I couldn't contribute to my family and the relationship started to fall apart too. But it didn't bother me. I have been in and out of many rehab centres, but without the expected result. The only result was that I could stay pretty drug free while at the rehab centre. But I could feel that my life was not getting handled there, I used it as a kind of "Vacation" from the streets and got some kilos on my body. During that time I lost my car, girlfriend, apartment and family. I ended up on the street, I didn't know what to do and my addiction became worse. I had to steal, make burglary and sell drugs to get for my own use. In the end I thought that all hope was gone and prepared myself to die as an addict. Then I heard about Narconon, something there should change my life drastically.

D I got an approval from the commune to do the program and to try for the last time to get drug free. When I arrived to Narconon Denmark I was scared to death, I had an idea that it would be a hell to get through the withdrawal with all the abstinences and I almost couldn't confront it, but I was wrong. The way they helped me, by the help of vitamins and assists, did that I got pretty easy through the withdrawal. The care I experienced at Narconon Denmark, I have never experienced before any place I have been. I could feel that they had been through the same and had a technology they understood to use.

E I can't think of anything I don't like about Narconon. If anything then it is that you gain so many kilos. The staff members are careful and help the person through all the difficult periods. The place is 100% drug free. I have got a really good relationship with my family again and look forward to be a real dad for my son again. I have found out that it is possible to change condition in life if you come to the right place and that place was Narconon Denmark for me.

contribute – přispívat

fall apart – rozpadat se

withdrawal with all the abstinences – překonat abstinenční příznaky

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Things started to fall apart

2 Lying to my family

3 Introduction

4 My return back to life

5 I went to Narconon

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the text about?

2 What was Eirik’s problem? What do we know about his life and family?

3 What is Narconon?

4 How did Narconon help him?

5 What do we know about Eirik’s life today?

3) Explain the following words.

1 overdose

2 addicted

3 rehab centre

4 bill

5 burglary

What does the life in a rehab centre look like? Is there any similar organisation near Jihlava? What are its activities? Under what condition can the clients stay there? What types of rehab centres do you know?

Adjusted to:

http://www.narconon.org/drug-rehab/centers/narconon-denmark.html

Substances abuse – Vocabulary 2

addicted – závislý

addictive – návykový

alcohol consumption – konzumace alkoholu

alcohol-related accident – nehoda způsobená alkoholem

anxiety – úzkost

bill – účet

burglary – loupež

constipation – zácpa

constricted pupils – rozšířené zornice

contribute – přispívat

dilated pupils – zúžené zornice

drunkenness – opilost

fall apart – rozpadat se

fermented – kvašený

gambling – gamblerství

group therapy – skupinová terapie

health consequences – zdravotní následky

impaired short-term memory – zhoršená krátkodobá paměť

increased blood pressure – zvýšený tlak

intravenously – nitrožilně

loss of balance – ztráta rovnováhy

loss of consciousness, blackout – ztráta vědomí

narcomaniac – narkoman

nausea – nevolnost

outskirt – předměstí

pain relief – úleva od bolesti

pregnancy – těhotenství

preventative centre – léčebné zařízení

property – majetek

prosecution – stíhání

psychiatric centre – psychiatrická léčebna

rehab centre – léčebna

sleepiness – spavost

social benefit – sociální dávka

socially excluded locality – sociálně vyloučená lokalita

street violence – pouliční násilí

stricken – postižený, zasažený

surge – nárůst, vlna, náraz

syringe – injekce

to battle – bojovat

to overdose – předávkovat

unemployment – nezaměstnanost

upbringing – výchova

usury – lichva

vicious circle – bludný kruh

volatile – těkavý

vomiting – zvracení

withdrawal with all the abstinences – překonat abstinenční příznaky

Substance abuse – Vocabulary

Explain the following words.

addicted

addictive

alcohol consumption

alcoholism

alcohol-related accident

anxiety

bill

burglary

constipation

constricted pupils

contribute

delirium tremens

depression

dilated pupils

drunkenness

fall apart

fermented

gambling

group therapy

health consequences

Impaired short-term memory

increased blood pressure

intravenously

loss of balance

loss of consciousness, blackout

narcomaniac

nausea

outskirt

overdose

pain relief

pregnancy

preventative centre

property

prosecution

psychiatric centre

rehab centre

sleepiness

social benefit

socially excluded locality

street violence

streetworker

stricken

surge

syringe

to battle

unemployment

upbringing

usury

vicious circle

volatile

vomiting

withdrawal with all the abstinences

Substance abuse – Questions

Answer the following questions.

Who can become a drug consumer?

How are drugs divided?

What are the symptoms of intoxication?

What does the life in a rehab centre look like?

Is there any similar organisation near Jihlava?

What are its activities?

Under what condition can the clients stay there?

What types of rehab centres do you know?

Who can become an alcohol consumer?

What are symptoms of alcoholism?

How can people stop drinking?

Who and where can help them?

What types of therapies do they undergo?

What does the life at outskirts look like?

Is there any similar place in Jihlava?

What are its problems?

Who helps the people there?

Substance abuse – Study material

Substance abuse – Study material

Human beings have used mood-altering drugs - or drugs of potential abuse - for hundreds of thousands of years. People use these drugs because they produce quick surges of a neurotransmitter, or brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine, when released in the brain, makes people feel pleasure or euphoria, or, in other words, “high”.

Mood altering drugs don't just affect dopamine; they also have many other brain effects. There are four main classes of mood altering drugs: Stimulants, Opioids, Sedative Hypnotics, and Hallucinogens.

Stimulants	Opiods	Sedative Hypnotics	Hallucinogens
Caffeine Nicotine Cocaine "Crack" Methamphetamine Psycho-stimulants: Amphetamine Diet pills	Opium Heroin Prescription opioids Codeine Morphine Methadone	Alcohol Benzodiazepines: Diazepam Aprazolam Rohypnol Barbiturates	LSD Marijuana Mescaline Mushrooms Jimson weed

Stimulants can cause:

• dilated (widening) pupils
• increased attention
• increased reflexes
• increased blood pressure and heart rate
• increased alertness
• decreased need for sleep
• decreased appetite.

Opioids can cause:

• constriction (narrowing) of the pupils
• dry eyes
• dry mouth
• constipation
• sedation or sleepiness
• slowing of the heart rate and breathing rate
• decreased blood pressure
• pain relief.

Sedative hypnotic can cause:

• relief of anxiety
• sleepiness
• impairment of judgment
• bizarre behaviour
• when used at too high a dose, coma or even death.

Hallucinogens can cause:

• a low degree of judgment
• altering of perception
• visual distortions
• spatial distortions
• loss of time perception.

Alcohol use and other drug use exists in our society as a gradual continuum. There are four different levels of use: abstinence, low risk or casual use, risky use or "substance abuse", and chemical dependence or addiction.

Abstinence: People who abstain do not use any mood altering drugs, not even in low risk amounts. People who abstain are likely to have:

People who are addicted will experience problems in these areas:

• self-respect
• close love relationships
• social relationships
• financial problems
• legal problems
• work problems
• medical or psychiatric problems.

Addiction causes overwhelming problems in our society. Some of the consequences of addiction include:

• Tobacco dependence - the leading preventable cause of death in America
• Fetal alcohol syndrome - the leading cause of preventable birth defects in our country.
• domestic violence
• child abuse
• childhood sexual abuse.

Addiction also costs our society money: The economic costs of addiction are estimated at 80-110 billion dollars per year.

Alcohol

Alcohol is the oldest and most widely used drug in the world.

Dealing with drunkenness and with alcohol-related accidents, crime, violence, and disturbances consumes more resources than any other aspect of police operations, while the health consequences of alcohol abuse add enormously to national health care costs. Illegal drugs can be more rapidly addicting than alcohol and may well have a more powerful effect on human behaviour, but the high level of alcohol consumption, which is many times greater than the level of illegal drug use, makes it one of most serious drug problems.

Alcohol is the name to given a variety of related compounds; the drinkable form is ethanol, or ethyl alcohol. It is a powerful, addictive, central nervous system depressant.

A liquid that is taken orally, alcohol is often consumed in copious quantities. Surveys of adolescent and young adult drinkers indicate that they are particularly likely to drink heavily with the intention of getting drunk—often every time they drink.

There are three basic types of alcoholic drinks:

Beer is made from fermented grains and has an alcohol content of three to six percent.

Wine is made from fermented fruits and usually has an alcohol content of 11 to 14 percent.

Liquor is made by distilling a fermented product to yield a drink that usually contains 40 to 50 percent alcohol.

Signs and symptoms of alcohol use and intoxication:

• Smell of alcohol on breath
• Irritability
• Euphoria
• Loss of physical coordination
• Inappropriate or violent behaviour
• Loss of balance
• Unsteady gait
• Slurred and/or incoherent speech
• Loss of consciousness
• Slowed thinking
• Depression
• Impaired short-term memory
• Blackouts
• Signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, experienced by alcoholics and problem drinkers:
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Paranoia and delusions
• Hallucinations (usually visual)
• Nausea and vomiting

What is Alcoholism?

Chronic abuse of alcohol can lead to addiction or alcoholism. The behaviour of abusers and the consequences of that behaviour are better indicators of alcoholism than how often or how much a person may drink. Alcohol addiction can be characterized by increased tolerance, causing the abuser to drink greater amounts to achieve the same desired effect. When an alcoholic stops drinking, he or she will typically experience the symptoms of withdrawal.

Adjusted to:

http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/substanceabuse/madrugs.cfm

http://www.acde.org/common/Alcohol.htm