Editorial»
All they need is acceptance
DEC 01 - Drug abuse is no more limited to
the unaware and illiterate.
The irony is that people who are well aware of the ill effects of drug abuse are the ones who constitute the majority who abuse it. Around 30 per cent of the users in the country are from Kathmandu and most of them are seemingly well bred.
People are seen to be using drugs to reduce tension and anxiety, escape from stress and cope with problems of day-to-day life. This is not the end. There are many other reasons for drug abuse. Some of the other common reasons leading to drug dependency are peer pressure, family problems, ready and cheap availability and curiosity. According to Rajendra Shrestha, Program Coordinator of Mukti Kendra, 97% of the drug users indulge themselves in this habit due to psychological reasons.
Drug users do not blame their peers for the habit despite the fact that most of them tried drugs for the first time with friends. However, they admit that they were driven by curiosity. They saw drugs as a means to escape from their personal problems. Also, many started doing drugs taking it as a normal and cool thing, as projected by the media.
“Next dose and the money to get the next dose”- this was all Pooja (name changed) could think of - a victim of drugs for five years. Now fully recovered, what Pooja seeks is acceptance from society.
A general conception on the part of people is that drug users are weak-willed and emotionally instable people. Some even categorize them as cheats, liars and social pests. Even after they recover, most people tend to avoid them and consider them unreliable. Drug dependency can change a person. Some of the emotions felt by these people are guilt, depression and loneliness.
Many times, due to the fear of social disgrace, people try to hide the problem of drug dependency faced by someone they know. There is a general belief that the users have to be self-motivated to come out it. At times this may hold true but mostly professional counseling and support from loved ones can do the trick.
A very popular and effective way of curing the problem of drug abuse is through rehabilitation. Currently, there are about seven rehabilitation Centers in the capital. The concept of rehabilitation was first introduced in Nepal by Mukti Kendra under Father Thomas Gafney’s guidance. This was established in 1976. In the beginning, it housed two drug users. In 1983, this was converted into a proper rehabilitation Center. Another rehabilitation Center – DAPAN - was set up in 1986, followed by Youth vision in 1988. Along with these, a few others were also established. These rehabilitation Centers are set up with an objective of arousing mass awareness and running various programs to prevent and control drug use.
These rehabilitation Centers have been effective in providing such services. According to Shrestha, Mukti Kendra have helped more than 10,000 drugs users to recover so far. Similarly, Youth Vision has been able to provide direct service to about 1500 drug users and indirect service to about 2000
others.
Drug consumption is seen to be an existent activity among the school and college goers. Schools and colleges can help rectify this situation through various measures such as conducting social awareness programs on the ill effects of drug abuse and by having separate counseling departments.
(Jointly written by Amar Baidya, Deepshikha Poddar, Nupur Jajodia, Rojina Ranjitkar and Suwaa Shrestha - 1st Semester MBA students, Kathmandu University)Posted on: 2003-11-30 11:05
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