Macedonia Narconon Program Holds 10 Year Anniversary

Anniversary at Narconon Macedonia

Ten years ago, an anti-drug agent by the name of Borce Mircevski was fighting against the epidemic of addiction that was destroying his home country of Macedonia. Mr. Mircevski’s job was to find and prosecute drug dealers and drug traffickers in order to get them off the streets. While he was able to put a lot of these criminals behind bars, he realized that he was actually doing little to stop the flow of drugs overall. Every time he removed a drug pusher from his community, another one filled his place.

He also occasionally had to push drug users behind bars, too. This never felt right, as these drug users seemed to be the victims of a bigger problem. Jailing someone for becoming addicted to heroin was doing little to stop more people from becoming addicts.

Mr. Mircevski realized that he needed to do something more to save his community. If he wanted to keep it from sliding even further into drug addiction, he was going to have to strike at the core of what allows substance abuse to flourish. He was going to have to handle addiction itself.

Finding a Drug Rehab Program that Worked

Mr. Mircevski began searching for a program that would allow him to help his community, and he discovered it in the summer of 2003. He learned about the Narconon program that had originated in the U.S. but was now a worldwide network of centers that had been saving lives for nearly four decades.

When Mr. Mircevski learned about the Narconon program, he knew that it is what his nation needed, and he got to work on making it happen.

Building a Lasting Center

Narconon Balkan center in Macedonia

Within twelve months of learning about Narconon, Mr. Mircevski opened his own center in the capital of his country, Skopje. He was only able to do so because he was so committed to helping pull his country out of the pit that drugs were creating for it. Macedonia is located right in the middle of some of the worst drug trafficking routes in the world, so it was vital that he get started right away. Almost immediately, addicts started filling up the center to get desperately needed help.

Now, ten years later, Mr. Mircevski has been able to watch countless addicts come through his center and leave with their lives changed. They are leading healthy, drug-free lives now because of the care and treatment they received at the center in Skopje.

In order to mark the anniversary, the staff and clients at the center held a celebration. Speakers came to recognize the center for the fantastic work that it has done, and everyone was treated to music and an anniversary cake to commemorate the occasion.

While Mr. Mircevski has done a great job in saving lives since the day he opened the center, he is an example of just one man can do when he puts his mind to making a difference in his community. Like-minded people from all over the world can do the same in their own towns in order to start fighting back against rampant drug abuse.

AUTHOR

Sue Birkenshaw

Sue has worked in the addiction field with the Narconon network for three decades. She has developed and administered drug prevention programs worldwide and worked with numerous drug rehabilitation centers over the years. Sue is also a fine artist and painter, who enjoys traveling the world which continues to provide unlimited inspiration for her work. You can follow Sue on Twitter, or connect with her on LinkedIn.