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Friday, March 29, 2024

THE POWER OF CONVERSATIONS

Babul Dkhar presents the grim reality of drug abuse in Meghalaya

By Babul Dkhar

One innocent experiment with drugs can lead to a lifetime of struggle, overcoming substance abuse. Some come out of it, while others end up losing their lives.

Babul Dkhar spoke to Sharad Wahlang, project director of the KRIPA Foundation, on the drug abuse problem in Meghalaya. In a one-on-one conversation with Adrian (name changed), our reporter wrote how he got into, and eventually out of, the addiction, relapsing on two occasions before finally being able to kick this habit.

According to a survey report by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE), there are 1.68 per cent cannabis users, 6.34 per cent opioid users, 0.95 per cent sedative users, 0.05 per cent cocaine users, and 0.05 per cent mephatemine type stimulants users, in the state.

Wahlang said, “Detoxification is expensive and not covered under the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS),” adding how insurance companies aren’t willing to consider substance abuse as a health hazard, therefore, not to be covered in the MHIS plan.

The project director highlighted that this lack of acknowledgement is already creating a division between drug abusers and alcoholics – the reason they won’t be covered under any insurance scheme.

What this does is create a dangerous narrative that the process of detoxification involves “just cleaning up”, making it part of the bigger problem.

“If covered in one’s insurance plan, people will not be reluctant to send their child or an adult for detoxification. Those who join a rehab centre become sober,” he added.

Drug abuse in Meghalaya, therefore, requires major policy-level intervention, with follow-up services for recovering addicts and alcoholics.

The journey towards sobriety carries with it unique challenges. Few schools accept children midyear. For adults, there is no job scope for recovered addicts. Overall, the post-recovery scenario is grim. That stigma is attached even after detoxification and can discourage those on the path to recovery.

For a solution-based programme, according to Wahlang, there should be a policy overhaul.

“The alternative approach should work towards reintegrating children back into school and providing them with opportunities, even if they fail and with their addiction history,” he stated.

For recovered adults, creating job opportunities is the need of the hour, giving them an outlet to channelise frustrations into creative and purpose-driven pursuits. The bias does not go away even after recovery. Often employers are hesitant once they find out that their employee is a recovered alcoholic or drug user.

Wahlang also said that the menace of drug abuse has left nobody untouched. “Drugs don’t choose victims. They come from the poorest to the richest backgrounds. Addiction is such that nobody gets out of it easily.”

Adrian, now sober for eight years, emphasised living with constant reminders to the self.

“Every day, I remind myself to stay out of it,” adding how he liked his experience initially, before getting hooked to it.”

He started using drugs as a student in Kolkata. While part of a band, a friend introduced him to drugs.

“On the first couple of occasions that I had brown sugar, I felt really nice. I walked from one part of Kolkata to the other without getting tired,” Adrian said.

Before he could realise it, he started having withdrawal symptoms, finding it difficult to wake up from bed without drug abuse. “Things would be normal once I used them,” he added.

The lows would be unbearable. Unable to take the struggle anymore, he confided in his parents, who asked him to return home.

Following a detox, he remained clean and later went to Pune and completed his graduation. He soon landed a job in a company and also joined a city-based music band where he relapsed after almost four years of sobriety.

“I did not learn my lesson and found myself hooked on drugs once again,” Adrian said, adding how he got caught. His company would give petrol cards, but his addiction caused him to exchange those for cash.

Sharing an anecdote, he said, “The situation worsened so much that I lost my friend’s bike. There was a problem with the bike and I parked it in a certain place. When I woke up the next day, I couldn’t remember where I left it.”

He even clandestinely used his sister’s credit card to buy drugs.

Shaken, he came back to Shillong once again to detox himself and completed his Masters programme.

As he started playing with various bands, he relapsed again, and finally gave up drug addiction in 2014. The fight to stay sober, however, remains a struggle even now.

“It’s a constant fight to stay clean. I wake up every morning and pray to God for strength and willpower,” he said.

Echoing Wahlang, Adrian confessed to feeling the stigma attached to addiction, long after he came out of rehab. There have to be novel ways to de-stigmatise recovering/recovered addicts.

“I appeal to the stakeholders to not stigmatise drug users and instead, collectively work together in reintegrating us into the society,” alluding to the difficulty they face to land a job.

In addition, our educational institutions should have a curriculum on the harmful effects of drug abuse, right from schools, to spread awareness on drug addiction.

How this collective fight against drug addiction shapes remains to be seen. Just getting addicts in rehab centres is not the answer. The process of de-stigmatisation goes hand-in-hand with tackling the problem.

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