When rehabilitation is finally underway, one of the difficulties is precisely reviving a social life. If one's education was cut short, for instance, how does one get a job? Well, all ex-addicts need is a second chance to complete their education and start afresh. And as of last November the Thessaloniki Psychiatric Hospital's alternative therapeutic program, Argo, is offering just that. Classroom doors opened to 18-35 year olds who have expressed their desire to kick their dependence on toxic substances and complete their education, receiving a graduation certificate and moving into gainful employment.
"The school offers students the same certified education and the same titles that every other school offers," explained psychiatrist Panayotis Yeorgakas, director of Argo to Greek daily, Ethnos. Students, who must have stopped their schooling three years prior to being admitted, are awarded, regardless of their school level, junior secondary school (Gymnasium) certificates in one year, while higher secondary school (Lyceum) certificates will be awarded in 2 years.
The broader scheme
Such second chances are very important and the state has in recent years adopted a more progressive philosophy for the treatment of drug problem seeking a balance between repressive and preventive initiatives.
According to a report on the drug situation in the year 2001 (presented by the Greek Reitox Focal Point to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction ), "the most important development in Greece, at policy level, is the commitment of the government to give top priority to the problem of drugs on its political agenda." Indeed, the government introduced a five-year action plan for the period 2001-2005 under the co-ordination of OKANA, the Organisation Against Drugs incepted in 1993. There was also an increase in funds.
In March 2000, OKANA created a Specialised Vocational Training Centre in Athens for ex-users or users under treatment, which provides training courses in stained-glass window technique, computers, administration, floriculture-horticulture, silk-screen printing, bookbinding and sewing. The centre is co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Labour. In 2000, ninety participants attended each training course and received a subsidy of 5 Euros per hour.
Back in Thessaloniki, the new Argo school, the only one in northern Greece, already hosts a class of 35 students from the two phases of the hospital's rehabilitation program. Students are organised into three groups: the first will be working at junior secondary school level, while the other two groups will work at TEE (Technical and Vocational Institutions) courses in Information Technology and in Economics and Administration, respectively. Students completing the higher secondary level will have the opportunity to further study at TEI level (Polytechnics). For according to the school's philosophy, the acquisition of skills and training are essential prerequisites for any attempt at rehabilitation.
