Heroin is the most problematic narcotic substance in Bulgaria since the number of people addicted to it is growing constantly.

Nearly 20 000 to 30 000 people are addicted, most of them living in Sofia, Interior Minister Roumen Petkov said.

On June 25, Petkov presented a report of the state crime prevention commission.

Petkov said that two troublesome trends were the scale of drug-distribution schemes in Bulgaria and the early age at which Bulgarians started using narcotic substances.

Police managed to limit the traffic passing through Bulgaria. Over the past year, policemen and customs officers seized more than four tons of narcotic substances.

A third of the drug addicted people in Bulgaria never underwent treatment and 40 per cent do not plan to seek medical aid in the near future, other forum participants said.

Nearly 50 per cent of the addicts polled said that they used more than one narcotic substance.

Seven per cent use three and more types of drugs. This makes treatment even harder.