Among users, even children Dramatic account by a 17-year-old girl from Tirana after an attempted suicide ARMAND MERO TIRANA — "Dozens of people of different ages, including some who are still children, are now regularly taking narcotics." This is how the harrowing testimony begins, about the life of a 17-year-old girl — one of the new victims of drugs. The girl (whose name we are not mentioning) is a student at one of Tirana’s high schools. A few days ago, only an emergency intervention by doctors at the National Toxicology Center at Tirana Military Hospital saved her from death. She had tried to kill herself by injecting an overdose of 6 ampoules of petidine. Now, after leaving the hospital, the girl tells Gazeta Shqiptare everything about her fatal experience with drugs and drug users. What was your first contact with drugs? "The first time a friend gave it to me. He himself had been using it for quite some time, and very openly too. When I asked him to try it — just out of curiosity — he hesitated at first, but then he gave me an ampoule of petidine." How did you take the ampoule? "By injection using a sterile syringe. I was with my friend when I tried it. Actually, a doctor gave me the injection — at one of the capital’s health centres — because we could not find the veins. My friend later paid the doctor for it." What did you feel afterwards? "A little dizziness and nausea. But at the same time I naturally felt a sense of relief. Then I felt stunned. A pleasure I had never known before. And you keep seeking that feeling, because after the dizziness and the rest you no longer feel anything else." So then you continued to take narcotics regularly? "Yes. The first three times they gave them to me for free. Then I had to buy them. So I was forced to take a large amount of money from home without permission. Usually I used one a day. But there were times when I took 4 ampoules in a single day. After a certain amount of experience — almost a month — I stopped. In fact I do not know the exact amount needed." What if they gave you an ampoule and a syringe, what would you do? "I would inject it, without a second thought. If I saw it, what would I think? It seems to make me feel so much better. I absolutely want to try it." What narcotics are there? The father’s despair TIRANA — "I had never felt anything heavier in my life than when I learned that my daughter was using drugs. It was a huge shock, like the one caused by death. In fact, even worse. In death, life leaves you at once; this is slow, it leads you to a terrible death because it takes away your youth and makes you grow old before your time. No, nothing is heavier, no kind of illness causes such harm. The first time — when we discovered the missing money — I forgave her, because she asked for forgiveness in a way that would not be repeated. And I know she keeps her word, because for some time she did not take it. But now, now she has started again. It is terrible, painful." "Now heroin has entered too. Meanwhile marijuana and hashish can be found freely. Petidine is widely used too, but the ones produced locally. The Chinese ones have no effect. One ampoule costs 500 lekë. The most expensive is heroin: 1,000 lekë per gram, I think." What ages are the majority of drug users? "Different ages. From eighth-grade pupils up to 40-year-olds. Some have been using for a long time, for example for 5 or 4 years. There are even some who have used it for 13 years. They are mainly educated people, from well-off and intellectual families." How is the organization carried out? "I do not know how the network works. But they are mostly grouped together. Then it depends on how they gather, because there are also breakaways. Some do not operate in certain squares, which are used for distribution; there are specific points and different people who deal with this. I only bought it and did not want to know more..."

TIRANA — A quantity of 3,000 ampoules of petidine has disappeared from the pharmacy of the pharmaceutical production company "Profarma" in the capital. A report from the management of this company — filed with the investigating authorities — immediately led to the opening of a criminal case and the detention of an employee. At first, the detention measure was taken only against one of the employees of "Profarma", who is suspected of having taken part in the handling of the petidine, the sterilization process. According to confirmations later provided by the prosecutor’s office, in the warehouse where the disappearance of the drug was verified, there had been around 36,000 ampoules of petidine, while after a surprise inspection the number was found to be 3,000 fewer. Although the investigation is still ongoing, the only detail explained is that the disappearance of the ampoules was not caused by a break-in, so the most likely hypothesis remains theft of the petidine by the employees of this company themselves. Edmond Laçi

The 100th anniversary of the IOC TIRANA — Traffic in Tirana will again be heavy today, although not as always because of cars. Thousands of amateur and professional runners, at 10:00 a.m., will fill the arteries of the Albanian capital, marking the start of the event "Tirana Marathon '94". Almost everything has now been completed in terms of preparations, and the organizers have announced in detail what will be needed for the successful completion of this special day. Schoolchildren from 8-year and secondary schools, students from higher schools, soldiers from the Tirana Garrison, amateur runners from schools and sports clubs of the capital and other cities, runners and specialists, foreign citizens of every activity in Albania, as well as representatives of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Albania, have been invited. Alongside the amateur runners, professional runners from 16 national marathon races will also compete today. The organizers of "Tirana Marathon '94" have planned prizes for the first ten places in each group-race. Thus, the Tirana Municipality has taken on the sponsorship of the winners of the distances up to 5 kilometres. On the other hand, contributions have also been made by the Albanian Olympic Committee and by foreign firms such as the Italian company "Maal". In addition to the runners, for the 20-kilometre race — because of the difficulties it presents — the organizers have decided to reward the top 20 finishers, men and women. Three goals for the running of this very large event have also been announced. Thus, the first condition that participants must observe is to gather in front of the Square of the University of Tirana at 9:30 a.m. There — according to a previously established order — the final placing on the starting line will also be carried out. Measures have also been taken for special changing and preparation areas for runners in each group-race, who now have secure places at their disposal and, in particular, the service of road guards and public-order forces, who have undertaken to block the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along the route prepared for the marathon. Medical emergency services have also been arranged, which will be available to protect the health of all participants. So only a few hours remain until the Albanian capital is "taken over" by thousands of runners. The 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Olympic Committee — as in all the capitals of the world — will also be celebrated today in Tirana. (G.a.)

The RAI family TIRANA — Today is the final deadline for receiving applications for the selection of Albanians by the Albanian Centre for the Family who will take part in the RAI UNO television show "Te bielle la stella". Many days have already passed since our newspaper published the form to be filled out by candidate families. Now everything will soon be requested, and the selection committee will publish, after the complete acceptance in total, 10,000 selected families who will be chosen directly during the conversation with the well-known producer P. Pippo Baudo.

Shkodër, the municipality in difficulty SHKODËR — Illegal constructions carried out recently are becoming an increasingly worrying problem for Shkodër as well. So far, the city municipality has identified more than 600 buildings, and their number tends to increase further. The authorities say the buildings are mainly put up by families who have moved from mountain areas into the city. The growth of these constructions certainly creates various social problems during periods of population movement, but the most serious problem — specific to Shkodër — is that, by putting up illegal structures, they have occupied almost all the plots available in Shkodër. A desperate situation has now been created. On the one hand, the city municipality has secured funds for the construction of 400 apartments — which would help considerably in solving the housing problem affecting the cities — and on the other hand, it has been blocked from beginning the construction of new residential apartments. The issue has been the subject of discussion many times by local government bodies, but so far no concrete solution has been found.

A political strike is announced TIRANA — This is the first hunger strike of a political nature to be announced. The strike will be organized in Tirana by a large group of former convicts and politically persecuted people. By Friday, 202 people from all over the country had signed up to take part in the upcoming strike. Members of the Steering Council told Gazeta Shqiptare, wishing to remain anonymous until the moment the hunger strike begins. "We have decided to begin the first political strike very soon. The purpose of our strike is the overthrow of the land distribution law — says a declaration by the organizers — starting from the fact that only 5 percent of the land in the Sarandë-Gjirokastër area is owned by minorities, and relying on the fact that the Albanian Parliament and Government accept the right to self-determination, we are forcefully demanding the annulment of the Land Law, so that lawful Albanian owners may be restored to the full right of their historical inheritance over centuries-old immovable property."

FORMER ITALIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL VISIT ALBANIA — A group of retired former military personnel from the Italian armed forces who were present during the Second World War visited Albania. The group held meetings with former Albanian servicemen during a ceremony organized for the occasion by the Italian embassy in Tirana. AT THE BLOOD TRANSFUSION CENTER BIOLOGICAL STRIPS ARE PRODUCED — Successful experiments have been carried out in several clinical laboratories with biological analyses that produce biological strips. Previously, for these analyses, Albania obtained them from abroad. Now several tests are being carried out to determine their level of quality. A GERMAN FOUNDATION HELPS WITH THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF DURRËS — The German foundation "Lahm" will help restore the museum of Durrës — one of the most important archaeological centers in the country. The foundation’s leaders have spoken with the mayor of the city about the start of a restoration project.

Neo-Nazis attack young Black people (On page 2) Another Nazi executioner has been discovered (On page 2) The problem of unemployment (On page 3)

Do you have something to sell? Do you need something to buy? This space is free for your economic notices. Send your message by a simple letter to our address. WANTED — a worker for the agency of the company "Drita". Those interested should contact the phone number 42502 for information. FOR SALE — a woman with a house/apartment of 102 square metres, who should call the number 40826 with a city exchange in Lezhë and 54763 for the Leshi family. FOR SALE — a one-room house with a kitchen, address: Besëlidhja district, Building 116, Apt. 4, first floor, Lezhë. FOR SALE — a two-storey house in Korçë with 6 rooms and a yard where 4 cars can be parked. Total area is 120 square metres. Address: District 6, "Asim Vokshi" Street No. 56, Korçë. FOR SALE — a two-storey house in Korçë with 6 rooms, a shop and a veranda, formerly the Korçë Hunting Club, address: Koço Toleçi, "Më Pushka" Street No. 10. FOR RENT — a private hotel with yard, 2 rooms and 1 kitchen. Those interested should contact phone number 93094. Address: "Deshmoret" Street No. 9 in Tirana. FOR SALE — a two-person Japanese-made camping tent and a used coal vacuum cleaner. Those interested should call 29349 after 5:00 p.m. in Tirana. FOR SALE — an "ARO" car, 7 seats, recently fully repaired. It is at a very reasonable price. Those interested should contact phone number 25526 or address: "Muhamet Gjollesha" Street, Building 39/1, Apartment 4 in Tirana. WE SELL — 200 lambs/cows, 630 packing crates for fruit and tomatoes, 2,800 packing crates for jam, and 900 glass jars weighing 80 kilograms at this address: Agricultural Processing Enterprise Korçë, phone number 024 / ???, 8:00-12:00. FOR RENT or FOR SALE — a dough and byrek shop on "Hajri Hykaj Dalliu" Street No. 5. Those interested should contact the above address. FOR RENT — a warehouse 10 by 4 by 6 metres. "Ali Pash Guci" Street No. 48/1 (opposite the Mother Teresa building), Tirana. Those interested should call phone number 33206. FOR RENT — 2 rooms and 1 kitchen. Contact phone number 83636 or address: District 10, Niko Avrami Street, Building 9, Staircase 4, Apartment 26 in Tirana. FOR RENT — a 1-room apartment with 1 kitchen. Those interested should call 2687. WANTED — business cooperation for a plastics production activity in Durrës. The area is 3,200 square metres. Those interested can call 26510 in Tira[?].

Zattere 1411 - Tel. 0039/41/781611 - Fax 781805 - Tlx 410045 Ferries for Passengers, Cars, Trucks DURRËS - BARI - ANCONA TRIESTE - DURRËS From DURRËS to BARI: every Tuesday departs at 22:00 every Thursday departs at 12:00 From DURRËS to ANCONA: every Sunday departs at 12:00 From DURRËS to TRIESTE: every Wednesday departs at 19:00 every Saturday departs at 20:00 Agency in ALBANIA DURRËS: DETARE SHTETERORE Tel. 052/22233 - Fax 22911 - Tlx 4148 Agency in ITALY BARI: AGESTEA Srl - via Lsido, 4 Tel. 0039/80/331585 - Fax 330828 - Tlx 810043 ANCONA: MARITIME AGENCY Srl - Via XXIX Settembre, 20 Tel. 0039/71/204916 - Fax 202296 - Tlx 660022 TRIESTE: AGEMAR Srl - Piazza Duca degli Abruzzi, 2/A Tel. 0039/40/363222 - Fax 77783 - Tlx 460059