Drug prevention and social awareness campaign
Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Drug addiction, a worldwide personality disorder, is influenced and controlled by genetic, physiological, and environmental conditions. Besides many social, economic, and cultural factors, a genetic predisposition is one of the most crucial contributory factors to drug addiction. It is a multifactorial and polygenic complex disease. Polymorphism in genes may contribute to the vulnerability to this disorder and study required to determine the association between genetic factors and drug-seeking behavior. Drug addiction affects a person’s brain and behavior, which causes a lack of capacity to control the usage of a drug or medication.
Drug addiction is a significant public health problem that causes severe social and economic difficulty in many countries.It increases the mental excitement of the youths. Again, we see abolition of good manners leading to the issues on discipline ground and ultimately getting frustrated. Drug addiction has its physical effects also. It reduces the working capabilities and weakening the body organ and nerves. Finally, blood is contaminated. Other complications including sleeplessness may take place and most cases the drug addicted people are attacked by HIV/AIDS. Again social and family peace is distorted. Among the addicted youths, there we see involvement of criminal offenses for getting more and more money. Ultimately family and society become imbalanced by facing the financial loos. Family suffers from financial deficit and the drug victims permanently become a tragic character.
Yaba has seen a massive rise in popularity in this country and has shifted the scenario from drugs like heroin and phensedy. Genetic factors cause an easier transition of individuals from being users of drugs to getting addicted to drugs in about half of the cases. Most addiction cases in Bangladesh fall within the age group of 21-30 years, and the most significant cause of drug addiction is the influence of friends, an environmental factor. Among the addicted, more than half are addicted to multiple drugs, and as different studies have found the sense of feeling better and the sense of adventure to be the leading reasons behind changing drugs.
There are a number of reasons why a teenager might try drugs. Peer pressure is one of the leading causes. Reasons determined through research include curiosity and excitement through its use, despair and frustration for continuous failure in works or economic insolvency. Some get addicted because they try to follow the western culture of drug abuse and enjoyment of life. A number of other reasons include poverty, easy access to drugs, dejection in love, and mental stress due to family problems. There are three types of drugs available in Bangladesh–opium (like heroin), cannabis (ganja), and sleeping pills (seduxen). The most common drugs used in Bangladesh are stimulants. The teens are ignorant about variation of drugs. Some of them cannot tell the difference between stimulants and marijuana. There are a large number of young using drugs.
The problem of drug use is not a problem exclusive to Bangladesh. Every country around the world has faced it. Some of them have done so successfully, others have not. We must stop emulating the countries whose drug policies have failed to stop or reduce drug addiction, and start adopting policies that have actually worked. Otherwise, it cannot be said that the policymakers are not equally culpable for the rapid explosion of drug use that we see in Bangladesh, and the enormous social costs and sufferings that come with it. People who are addicted to drugs need empathy and love to overcome their addiction. These are the two most common threads – along with professional help – that can pull them out of the quagmire of addiction. Unfortunately, there are not enough reliable rehabilitation centres in our country, and most are out of the reach of lower- and middle-income groups. At the same time, we must do more to prevent people from getting addicted in the first place by ensuring that they do not feel alienated from their friends and families or their community. Involving people in social/community activities, therefore, is crucial. Finally, we can say that role of volunteerism need to be highlighted and zero tolerance measure need to be taken against the drug hoarders and traffickers and the role of the media must be very significant. So for the betterment of our future generation healthy environment, good citizenship andduty bound activities towards society must be taken by government.
Whenever we go for study on the issue of drug addiction, some questions appear before us as of study’s finding part. They are as follows. Is Drug an environmental or genetic problem or the both? Again Is drug addiction a major problem for mental stress and suicidal death? Will drug control remain in a tolerable condition? The youth is the future of our world. Is being a drug addict a good example of being the ‘future generation’? Is that how we should teach people in such a young age? The above questions knock us by giving a danger and very alarming signal to the future generation of the nation. So the problem of drug addiction need to be addressed in the priority basis.
(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar & VDP).
