Home ›› 14 Jan 2022 ›› Opinion
Remember the girl named Oishee who hit the headlines back in 2013? The macabre killing of SB Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna shook the whole country as they were murdered by their very own daughter. According to the coroner’s report, Oishee, the daughter of the murdered couple, alone killed her parents. Now, the question is - how can a girl kill her parents? It’s only possible under the influence of drugs. Oishee, under the spell of drugs, killed her own parents along with two other friends who were also drug addicts. The fact that Oishee was addicted to drugs definitely played a significant role in committing the homicide.
The number of drug addicts –women and children to be specific- in 2021 has tripled in comparison with 2019, according to a recent report published in a local online portal. The report took into consideration the statistics provided by public and private drug rehabilitation centres. According to the findings, 30,133 drug addicts received treatment from public and private treatment centers in 2020. From January to November 2021, 33,903 patients received treatment from different rehabilitation centers. In 2019, 340 women and children received treatment whereas 975 people (women and children drug addicts) took treatment till November 2021. Experts opine that this is just the tip of the iceberg as the real number of addicts is much higher than the stats since most of the addicts don’t come to the rehabilitation centers. Drug addiction, in general, is increasing at an alarming rate among the youth. According to media reports the trend of drug consumption is higher among the youth and teenagers, their age spanning between 15 and 30 years. They come from all strata of the society. The average age of the drug addicts is 22. Students are mostly falling victims to drug abuse, which eventually lowers their standards of education and attendance at schools and colleges. According to the head of Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (MANAS), Arup Ratan Chaudhury, an estimated more than 2.5 million children were drug addicts in Bangladesh. Street children, who are said to number 3.4 million, are the primary targets of drug dealers. The Bangladesh Children Rights Forum (BSAF) also estimated that 85 percent street children in the country are suffering from drug abuse. The Dhaka-based nongovernmental organization said 19 percent of such children use heroin, while 28 percent took tablets and another 8 percent injected drugs.
C.G Jung, founder of analytical psychology, has pointed out that any kind of addiction is detrimental, but at the same time it is true that nothing can be more damaging than drug-addiction. People are addicted to many things; some are addicted to music while some are seriously addicted to social networking sites, but nothing is comparable to drug-addiction. Such addiction results in not only disastrous physical damages, but also causes huge psychological impacts that ultimately affect the whole social dynamics.
Drug, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, is a chemical substance of synthetic, semi-synthetic or natural origin intended for diagnostic, therapeutic or palliative use or for modifying psychological functions of human beings and animals. Drugs, when taken or injected in an amount more than the prescribed dose by the physicians, stimulate different kinds of hormones in the body that ultimately result a sudden excitement inside the body of the person. And for the widely known power of exciting one’s stimulations, drugs are very often pursued by the youth.
A significant number of youths are presently addicted to drugs for many reasons and these drugs are within the reach of people from all walks of life. Porous borders with India and Myanmar allow trafficking in drugs and other contraband items and so, the drug-peddlers can easily distribute those smuggled drugs among their root-level agents and the agents supply those to the addicts without facing much of a difficulty. As a consequence of such unchecked trespassing, the number of youths addicted to drugs is on the rise. According to a survey conducted by the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (JHPN) of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), about 56.1 per cent of the total addicts are either students or unemployed. And as many as 20.6 per cent of the drug addicts in the capital are females.
In connection to this, it is mentionable that slums in the capital have turned out to be hubs for selling drugs. And astonishingly mostly women and children dwelling in the slums are running this illegal business. They sell all kinds of drugs including heroin or brown sugar, Phensedyl, cannabis, pethidine injections and diazepam, clobazam, seduxen or noctin tablets under the very nose of law enforcers. And owing to the fact that drugs are being sold openly in the slums, children residing in the slums and nearby areas are developing a habit of taking drugs as they are gullible and not aware of the dark sides of drug addiction. As a result, slum children sniff glue instead of living out carefree days of their childhood. Peddlers prefer women and children for carrying and selling drugs because it is easier for them to evade law enforcers. According to the head of Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (MANAS), Arup Ratan Chaudhury, an estimated more than 2.5 million children were drug addicts in Bangladesh. Street children, who are said to number 3.4 million, are the primary targets of drug dealers. The Bangladesh Children Rights Forum (BSAF) also estimated that 85 percent street children in the country are suffering from drug abuse. The Dhaka-based nongovernmental organization said 19 percent of such children use heroin, while 28 percent took tablets and another 8 percent injected drugs.
There are many significant reasons behind becoming an addict, but the most common ones include curiosity and excitement, a solace to despair and frustration and peer pressure. But, whatever the reasons are for being an addict, the impacts of being addicted are startling. Drugs, said Kurt Cobain, the late American musician, are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem. The most upsetting thing is that the addicted youths indulge in different criminal activities to get hold of the money required to buy the drugs. Even the young drug peddlers buy drugs with the money they earn by selling drugs to other people.
People with addiction often have one or more associated health issues, which could include lung or heart disease, stroke, cancer, or other health conditions.
Apart from all these physical problems, addiction causes many psychological problems and those problems are more challenging as it is indeed tough to deal with those complications. A major impact of drug addiction is the creation of a cycle where anytime one encounters stress or pain, he or she feels the urge to do drugs. This is one of the psychological effects of addiction involved in the craving for drugs. Another psychological effect of addiction involved in craving is the belief that the addict cannot function or handle life without drugs. So, once someone begins taking drugs, he/she can hardly stop himself/herself.
Drug addiction has spread its tentacles among our young generation. It is not feasible to change anything unless the youths change their thinking or they are being stopped from being railroaded into something as devastating as addiction. Awareness has a significant role to play in this regard. Family and educational institutions can perform a vital role by inculcating a sense of self-awareness against drug addiction among the youth. Moreover, the government needs to regulate the rehabilitation centers as well since there are wide allegations that these centers are not performing their tasks properly. Even a few days back, it has been reported that the top officials of a rehabilitation center located in Gazipur were involved in selling yaba pills. Parents and relatives send their kids to the rehabilitation centers with great hopes, their hopes must not go in vain.
The writer is a communications professional. He can be contacted at malammohabbat@gmail.com
