The increase in cocaine use among young people in Kosovo is becoming an increasingly serious public health concern.
Experts warn that the age of users is falling, while cases are increasing even in rural areas. At the same time, the lack of a specialized rehabilitation center is making long-term treatment of addiction difficult, leaving many young people without the support needed for full recovery.
At the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, doctors are facing an increase in cases of cocaine addiction, especially among young people. At the Psychiatry Clinic, there are currently three patients hospitalized, two with cocaine addiction and one with alcohol addiction. Just a few days ago, their number was higher.
Samire Gashi Braina, psychiatrist, said that “currently 3 patients are hospitalized, while two days ago there were 5, but one has discontinued treatment because he could not overcome the seizures of insomnia and the other for other reasons has been unable to continue treatment and currently there are 3 patients hospitalized, two are addicted to cocaine and one is addicted to alcohol. While one patient is 24 years old, he is an abuser of all substances and recently, for the last 6 months, he has only been on cocaine.”
One of the main challenges remains the lack of a specialized rehabilitation center.
“Detoxification is in our ward, then it is transferred to stabilization, it is assessed whether there are problems of a psychological nature, whether anxiety dominates, whether elements of psychosis dominate, and adequate therapy is given. Then the last link is rehabilitation and recovery, which link is currently a very important link to completely get out of the situation. But unfortunately we do not have a Rehabilitation Center,” she added.
Organizations working on the ground warn that cocaine use is spreading rapidly and is no longer limited to urban areas.
The organization “Labyrinth” says that prevention remains insufficient, due to the lack of sustainable educational programs in schools.
“We know that people do not believe in prevention and we deeply believe in prevention, if we implement it well. So far there is no curriculum or a nationwide program that can be implemented in all schools and it must be maintained continuously. So, the programs must start today so that we can see the effects after 5 years,” says Safet Blakaj from the organization “Labyrinth”.
In an official response, the Ministry of Health announced that, through the Department of Strategic Health Planning, the “Action Plan for the implementation of the project: Center for Addiction Diseases” was drafted and approved on September 18, 2025. However, the Ministry of Health has not made public a precise deadline for the functionalization of this center./RTK