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| Sunday, 20 June 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is on June 26 : Kicking the drug habit from behind bars by Shanika Sriyananda Tears glisten in his eyes, as he tries to smile nonchalantly. The once white regulation shorts and shapeless shirt, are muddy brown and too big for his skeletal frame. Manjula Kularatne (not his real name) is barely 21-years-old. But his wasted body, pain filled weary eyes and quivering voice makes him look and sound far older.
"Do you believe that my 'amma' (mother) made me a prisoner in this hell", he asks in a woeful voice. This 'hell' is the Boossa Rehabilitation Camp, where Manjula, addicted to heroin has been incarcerated with fellow addicts for the past several months. And the tragedy, as he sees it, is not so much his addiction, but the fact that his mother got him arrested and imprisoned. Manjula's tale is the typical story of a rich boy 'gone wrong'. He had plenty of pocket money, free time and the wrong kind of friends. "I had a lot of freedom. I attended a night club when I was in grade eight", boasts Manjula, who began his addiction with ganja and had his first sniff of heroin when he was doing his Advanced Levels at a leading school in Colombo. Addiction Manjula, whose father is a top administrative official, and his mother, a teacher at a leading school in Colombo, initially spent Rs. 100 on his addiction every day. But after a few months his craving for 'kudu', increased and he was spending Rs. 1000 a day. Money was not a problem as his parents, too busy to spend time with him, gave him whatever funds he needed with no question asked. "At the beginning my mother did not know about my addiction and I was using money she gave me to buy CDs to maintain my drug habit", he says. Manjula who collected CDs as a hobby during his pre-addiction days and had a collection that was worth Rs. 85,000. A great fan of a rap artist, Manjula indulged in his addiction after going through the artists' autobiography on the Web, which revealed the rapper to be a heroin addict. " I wanted to imitate him", says Manjula. A loner he had little or no rapport with his father, who was busy with 'intellectuals' preparing new programmes for the country's education system and often came home late at night. He did not have much time to spend with his son, who was frequently left to his own devices. The situation became worse after 'big' brother's marriage, and sister's departure to United States for higher studies. While his breach with his father widened, he used to confide his hopes and fears to his mother and in his mother's absence to his 'heroin gang', who met every afternoon at a nearby playground. Over the months his addition deepened, and the more heroin he took, the more he needed to take, just to stay fit and alert. "There was no 'pata pata lokayak' (very fancy world) after a heroin sniff and with the increasing intake, you want to sniff more just to kill the pain", says Manjula, who graduated from sniffing to injecting heroin to get a greater 'kick'. "When, my mother came to know about me, she pleaded with me to stop the habit, but I could not do so, because at that time my body was craving for heroin. At the beginning, my mother did not give me money. But all her efforts to stop my addiction failed. Then she gave me Rs. 1000 every day to get the heroin to prevent me from stealing", says Manjula, whose addictive habit also completely severed the father-son relationship for ever. Higher studies "He hates me now and won't come to see me", he bemoans. In desperation, his mother finally informed the Police. Manjula knows his mother did it to save him, but he finds it difficult to accept. Worse still he says he was not sniffing at the time he was arrested. "But police forcibly gave a packet of heroin to me," he alleges. Manjula, who dreamed of going to Australia for higher studies to become a pilot, finds it hard to accept that he is an addict. Thanks to Laksman Silva, the Superintendent of the Camp, Manjula, who is fluent in English, was given work in the office. "But I want to go out. I cannot be caged here for years. A day in the prison is just like a year", he says. Used to a comfortable life as his mother's 'chutti putha' (little son) the only comfort he has now is his mother's visit to the camp. She travels to Boossa from Panadura, to see him, and the few hours given to the mother and son, help him to face the battle with the withdrawal syndrome. The 'Sunday Observer' met Manjula and other inmates, some who have been rehabilitated and some who are fresh to the Camp, at an awareness programme organised by the Centre for Human Rights, held to make aware of their rights and the rights of others in society. Over 100 inmates who will go back to their families in August participated at the programme. Manjula's camp mates Virajith, Jayantha, Premadasa and many others have similar tales to tell. There are over 435 drug addicts in the Camp, which was used to house detained LTTE suspects earlier. Most of the drug addicts had been arrested by the police following, tip offs given by mothers, wives or close relatives of the families. According to Silva, though these inmates are going to integrate with society within a few months, they are still mentally not stable and need more support from their family members to quit the habit. The Boossa Camp, which was converted into a drug rehabilitation camp with 350 inmates, offers a tranquil environment for the addicts helping them to get over their addiction through a series of programmes including agricultural labour, vocational training and meditation. The drug addicts have to spend two years behind bars to be deemed fully rehabilitated. Manjula will have to spend 18 months in the camp, before he is released. Rehabilitation "We started this camp without any programmes for rehabilitation of drug addicts. The vegetable and fruit cultivation was started with seeds worth Rs. 480. It now has a net profit of Rs. 85,000, which is deposited in the prisoners welfare account. "Keeping the addicts occupied with cultivation helps them tolerate the withdrawal symptoms. Caring for plants and reaping a good harvest from their own small plots helps them get mental satisfaction", says Silva. The Department of Vocational Training has also offered five courses - carpentry, masonry, bakery, screen printing and land-scaping - for these inmates and there is no indication in the certificate that the holder got the training while serving a prison term. The English classes are very popular among the inmates. Dharma school and a meditation class have been introduced to develop their mental facilities. The prison authorities have also introduced a novel programme to counsel the family members to re-unite the family bonds, which were broken with the addiction. The Released Prisoners' Association, which was formed recently holds a 'sharing of experiences session' with the present inmates to let them know the former addicts' victory against heroin' and how they have come back to normalcy. According to Silva, students from almost all leading schools in Colombo and other major cities can be found among these inmates. " It is very difficult to tolerate the pain, but unlike in other prisons not a milligram of heroin can be found here", says Ruwan from Galle. Most of the addicts are from broken homed and middle class families. |
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