Is your son drug dependent?

By Carol Aloysius

Nimal was elated when his parents gave him permission to take four closest friends to a nightclub for his 17th birthday. Once they arrived at the club, Nimal called for a round of wine to celebrate his special day. This was followed by beer and whisky. By the time the foursome left the club, they were so intoxicated by their mix of alcoholic drinks they could barely stand. Staggering out of the club they began club hopping, ended their day experimenting with hard drugs.

It was Nimal’s first taste of heroin and it changed his life drastically.

Clamouring for more of the addictive substance his school grades and school attendance began to decline. So did his behaviour along with his sleeping and eating habits, the way he dressed, and talked.

A well mannered, polite boy by nature, he stopped studying and instead listened to loud music till late night, waking up long after his school had begun. His toilet habits changed to the point of not even washing his face or brushing teeth.

The previously clothes- conscious teenager, also began dressing carelessly insisting on going to school wearing rubber slippers. His shocked parents would frequently hear him swearing and using street language - the kind that drug addicts used.

Distressed and dismayed at his sudden inexplicable behaviour they finally persuaded him to visit the General Practitioner who had treated Nimal as a baby. They were shocked to learn that their only son had become a drug addict.

Silver lining

The silver lining in their cloud of despair, they told this writer in retrospect, was that once he had realised the cause for his confused and disorderly manner, Nimal was willing to get himself treated at a drug rehabilitation centre. Warned that the treatment would not bring overnight miracles and that he needed to be detoxified, counselled and rehabilitated, he was willing to go ahead, rather than slip further into the dark world of drugs that had obsessed him.

“Today our son is on his way to recovery. What’s more, he has gone back to his studies and wants to fulfil his dreams of becoming an engineer, like his father”, says his happy mother.

Growing problem

Drug abuse is a growing problem in Sri Lanka. Tragically, most addicts worldwide and in Sri Lanka are now getting hooked on various substances at a young age due partly to the free flow of illegal narcotics into the country via the golden triangle from Afghanistan, to Pakistan to Sri Lanka. According to the Handbook of Drug Abuse 2010 published by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) the total number of drug related arrests in 2009 was 18,743, with 68 percent in the age of 30 or more and 30 percent in their twenties. The vast majority were males who hailed mostly from the Western Province (48 percent) followed by the southern Province (13 percent) and Central Province (10 percent). The prevalence of drug related arrests above 14 years was 125 persons per population of 100,000.

What are these narcotics? Why do people abandon comfortable lives and go in search of them in street corners and alleys? How do you define a drug?

A drug, according to informed sources, is a chemical substance which when it enters the human body causes a considerable amount of damage in that system. Alcohol is one such drug. So is tobacco. And so are ganja or cannabis, as well as hashish and marijuana which are two of its preparations.

Explaining their deadly health impacts, a medical expert said, “They can cause wide ranging damage to the brain, liver, thinking and even drive a person to madness. Take Ganja. In the brain it causes a derangement of perception, so that a person under its influence fails to appreciate the reality of time, distance, speed. If a pregnant woman uses this substance it can affect the brain of her unborn child. People who have taken this substance for a long time develop a mental stage in which they become devoid of all drive. This is called an amotivational stage.”

While Opium is now a substance of the past, heroin, the white powder derived from the main alkaloid chemical found in opium is in current use. “There are two significant characteristics of heroin”, our medical source pointed out. “Firstly, it creates dependence - a state where one develops an overpowering desire to continue taking the drug and his priority is directed at obtaining that substance, even if it meant stealing or even killing for it.

Secondly, it is a habit that is hard to kick. When habitual users want to stop, they develop temporary withdrawal symptoms, such as loose stools, insomnia, shivering, yawning, hair standing on end, abdominal pain, bone and joint pain.

So how does this habit start? What are the signs?

Nimal’s GP says, “Usually dependence creeps stealthily on people, especially young people and begins to affect their school work, their sports, their behaviour, as in the case of Nimal. They experience mood changes, language changes often slang words and phrases in drug taking strata of society. Moods of drug users can change from elation to depression and bursts of violence. Parents must watch out for repeated thefts in the home including money and jewellery. Drug addiction leads to personal degradation. It must be treated and the patient must want to give up the habit,” he said.

Recognition of the problem is the first step to curing it, as it will motivate people to seek help.”

Why only some?

According to consultant psychiatrist Dr Indika Mudalige, “no single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. The risk factors for addiction are high by a combination of factors. They include individual biology (the genes people are born with) in combination with environmental influences. A person’s environment includes many different influences from friends and family to socio economic status and quality of life. Factors such as peer pressure, poor parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and escalation to addiction. Genetic and environmental factors interact with the critical development stages of a person’s life. Though taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier drug use begins the more likely it will progress to serious abuse which poses a special challenge to adolescents because areas in their brains that govern decision making, judgement and self control are still developing. So, adolescents are especially prone to risky behaviour including drug abuse”.

Treatment?

Doctors can help a patient by reducing the substitute drugs doses. But the patient may also need vitamins and nutritional supplements. In some, the patient’s thinking has to be adjusted and requires psychotherapy some require social readjustment and rehabilitation, he said.

Treating new and habitual drug addicts is today part of our Drug Control activities, a spokesperson from the NCCDB said. “Both government and non government organisations are currently committed to wean drug offenders from their habit since they pose a threat to themselves and society. Drug Dependent Persons (treatment and rehabilitation) Act No 54, in 2007 was initiated to implement compulsory treatment. It operates four residential treatment centres and outreach programs for drug dependants. The NDDCB also operates four residential treatment centres and outreach programs for drug dependants. The centres located in Colombo, Kandy, Galle and Urapola provide residential care treatment and rehabilitation services, besides functioning as preventive and outreach arms of the Board.

The program operating at these centres include; individual and family counselling, detoxification, physical exercise, mental relation, indoor and outdoor activities, psychotherapy, education in coping with skills and most importantly, motivation to develop healthy life styles.

While these programs are commendable, much more needs to be done. Today the drug menace has seeped into every fabric of our society; starting with schools, universities and other educational institutes. Hence the need of the hour is a comprehensive meaningful program to educate, prevent, inform, and motivate young persons adopt healthy lifestyles, be initiated islandwide. Due to the frightening repercussions of drug dependency, there has to be some form of compulsion for all drug addicts to seek treatment. It is thus vital for the community to build networks from grass root level up to priests, teachers, parents to identify would-be or already addicted persons, by monitoring habits and behaviour patterns of high risk groups, and then persuade them to seek treatment.

Admitting young drug addicts to prison is not the answer. They must be sent to treatment centres and rehabilitated. Treatment must be tailored to suit each dependent since no single therapy will be suitable to all drug dependants. Offering different types of treatment, with medical interventions combined with counselling and other behavioural therapies is vital, says a sociologist.

It is encouraging to note that under the revised national policy for drug control by the NCCDB, some of these initiatives have already been put in place.

But the key word is to sustain them. This can only be achieved if all treatment programs are humane, affordable and cost effective.

Living as we are in a violent society where morals are rapidly being eroded and poverty is on the increase, thousands of young disillusioned people are looking for ways to escape from the stresses and strains of everyday living. Our future citizens can be protected from further moral decadence, and self destruction, if we collectively help put them back on the right track.

Organisations such as SLANA (Sri Lanka Anti Narcotics Association), Mel Medura and the NCCDB have been established for just this purpose.

If you suspect a friend, neighbour or even your son or daughter of substance abuse, call them. Or better still, accompany them to a centre where they can seek counselling and remedial treatment without delay.

Tomorrow may be too late.