Taslima Hossain Shikha
Ayan, an O level student, is a regular smoker. His looks have lost charm. He looks older than his age of 17. Black spots on his teeth, lips and below the eyes have compounded his ugliness.
Ayan (not his real name), son of a businessman in Dhaka, got the habit from some family members. He found his family members smoking cigarettes at home and became curious about it. To satisfy the curiosity, one day he had his first taste of cigarette. At that time he was only 10 years old. Ayan came in contact with some spoiled classmates when he was in class six at an English medium school at Uttara in Dhaka and grew addicted to ganja and Phensidyl.
"I didn't do well in the O level examinations. That's because of drugs. I've wasted my life and disappointed my parents. They had lots of dreams about me, " says Ayan from a bed at Addiction Rehabilitation Residence, tears rolling down his pale face.
Ayan's case shows how many children like him are destroying themselves and ruining their careers. They get addicted to drugs due to their parents' carelessness and influence of their bad companions. It raises concerns when it is found that most of the addicts are children and youths.
According to a report revealed by Client Monitoring System at Central Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (CDATC) under Narcotics Control Department, ages of 80 per cent drug addicts in Bangladesh range from 15 to 28.
Another report of World Health Organisation says most of the floating children get addicted to alcohol and drugs when they are 13 to 16 years of age.
Peer pressure plays a key role, leading the young people to drugs. Dr Arup Ratan Chowdhury, founder director of an anti-drug institution, says about 35 per cent of addicts start taking drugs due to their friends' influence, while 32 per cent out of curiosity, 19 per cent for disappointment, 10 per cent due to family troubles and four per cent because of deprivation.
The drug addicts not only destroy their valuable lives but also cause a huge financial loss to their families. According to a survey conducted by Narcotics Control Department last year, an addict spends Tk 223 everyday on average on drugs. As per the survey, there are some 20 lakh drug addicts in Bangladesh and they spend Tk 134 crore a month on drugs.
Taking drugs badly affects health and creates many kinds of diseases. Physician of CDATC Dr Akhtaruzzaman Salim says the drug addicts suffer from loss of appetite, ammonia, various mental diseases, ulcer, acidity, jaundice, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, indigestion, respiratory diseases, skin diseases, septic diseases and cancer. Even, he says, there is a great possibility for a newborn to be drug addicted if its mother takes drugs during her pregnancy.
Giving up drug addiction is difficult. Addiction leads addicts to ultimate ruination. But the addicts can be cured physically, not mentally, say doctors. CDATC physician Dr Mohadev Chandra Mondal says, "The addicts cannot give up drugs abruptly. Although the addicts are cured physically, 90 per cent mental illness remains with them. It is never possible to cure this mental sickness."
Drug addiction has one more dark side that gives a rise to many anti-social activities in the society. Director of Narcotics Control Department Alamgir Kabir Sikder says, "The drug addicts engage themselves in stealing, snatching, hijacking and robbery to collect money for buying drugs and thus criminal activities go up in the society. Addicted children also commit these offences."
To tackle drug addiction, parents must keep watch on their children. Dr Mahmuda Islam, Professor of Sociology Department of Dhaka University, says students should be told about the harms drugs cause to them and their families. She says the present role of media in combating the problem is great
—NewsNetwork
The dark sides of drug addiction and the remedy
FE Team | Published: July 14, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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