The Silent Epidemic Called Yaba
What is Yaba? Believe me I didn’t know the answer till this morning. I was at work, going on with my business, and then I saw a chat window popping up. It was someone I came to admire since my entry in the blogging world only a few months ago. We have much in common – both juggling work and home, both being mothers of little one(s). The chat soon turned into something other than exchange of pleasantries as she at one point shared her worries about someone very close to her who got into Yaba recently.
My naive question was “what is that?”
Later I found an article in Star Weekend Magazine. I vaguely remember skimming through it and not paying much attention because this was something I couldn’t relate to (typical attitude was “it is not as bad a problem as is in the western world” or “doesn’t happen to people I know” type of attitude). I started to read the article and my eyes opened. It was more like a jolted awakening!
This particular drug Yaba that hit Dhaka in late 2004’s is apparently a mixture of methamphetamine, caffeine and at times heroin. It gives people euphoria and heightened energy (opposite to Phensydil that causes people to have drowsy spell), and the recent “must have” thing within the most privileged class of Dhaka. Some of the former junkies interviewed for the article admitted that it all started with ‘innocent’ recreational use of ‘marijuana’, apparently readily available in Dhaka (!), then went downhill from there. The numbers of users have increased amazingly within a year.
According to the SWM report Yaba had been linked to lung and kidney disorders, hallucinations, increased and irregular heartbeat along with a host of other psychological effects. Users of Yuba run the risk of rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure and damage to the small vessels in the brain that can lead to a stroke. Chronic use of the drug can result in inflammation of the heart lining. Overdoses can cause hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), convulsions, and death. Yaba users also may have episodes of violent behaviour, paranoia, anxiety, confusion and insomnia. Those coming off the drug are also susceptible to severe depression and suicidal urges. It is basically a non-stop adrenaline rush, followed by exactly the opposite feeling.
Good thing is celebrities like Mac Hauque (Feedback) and Buno (Bangla) are speaking up, and alerting people, having gone through phases themselves. Famed dance performer Lubna Mariyam is trying to reach out to concerned parents She even convinced Grameen Phone to open hotlines where the parents or the abusers can call for counseling.
The GP hotline numbers are
0171-306-0001 and 0171-306-0002.
I never thought I in my lifetime will write about substance abuse. My purpose for opening up the thread is to let people know that there is help available in Dhaka if someone needed it. If you or anybody you know is in trouble, please have them call this number, and they can let you know of places where they could get all the help they needed.
If anyone knows of more places that offer rehabilitation, or know where brochures are available with information, please post it here. I think a lot of people do not even know how to tell if their loved ones are in trouble. What are the signs to look for? There are some good pointers in the article I mentioned above.
November 5th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
I’m sorry, am I missing the point here? Banglalis have been using recreational drugs way before Nirmanendra Goon popularaised how fun amphetamines can be in the poem ‘Aj Mandrax” back in nineteen seventy whenever.
The article was a typical Daily Star doe-eyed soft-focus look at the drugs scene in Dhaka with little useful or analytical information to impart.
No mention on the penetration of drugs into low and middle income classes. Do we really need to know more tear jerkers about kids from the elites falling foul of drugs?
I’d be more interested with this information if there was some news on rehabilitation centres for the huge numbers of junkies from poor backgrounds. Thousands of people buy drugs from Syedabad every day - how do they live their lives/support their habits.
Instead we’re made to feel disappointed by stories of rich kids, spinning of the rails because they can’t handle their drugs but guess what? Abbu’s going to pay for everything anyway.
November 6th, 2006 at 12:51 am
Sid A,
Yes you are missing the point here.
The point is drug abuse is such a dreadful thing, it can hit anybody, any time, regardless of their socio-economic status, education…etc. Just because someone is spoilt by the wealth provided by their family, it does NOT mean that person has to suffer the inevitable, without any help.
I most certainly DID NOT think that the DS article was soft focus. On the contrary I thought it was a bold step on their part in talking candidly about it where the whole subject matter is such a taboo in BD. I was very impressed that celebrities like Lubna Mariyam are not shying away about her own child Anushe’s (who is quite famous singer herself) former addiction. And both of them are enthusiastically volunteering to help out the others in need. How very commendable!!
If know how to help out the victims you mentioned in your comment – the ones in the Sayedabad - I mean if you happen to know how to help them – why not post it here?
November 6th, 2006 at 3:33 am
Well sorry Zafa, but in all my years, I never saw any rehabilitation centres or “GP Hotlines” set up for the heroin addicts who congregate in New Market or Syedabad. Maybe its because their social orbits never really intersected some of the worthy celebrities who are popularising the extent of drug addiction now.
And it’s unfair of anyone to suggest, when they are met with a question about how these things affect the “99% Non-bubble class” as Asif calls them, with the ridiculous charge of “What have you done for blah blah blah”. Thats simply a debate killer and obscures the issue at hand.
A silly ineffectual Daily Star article on a few rich kids on drugs helps no-one. Sorry.
November 6th, 2006 at 4:22 am
Some very important information and address of drug rehab programs are available here in this blog entry of a recovered addict. The information is authentic, I know the author very well.
http://www.somewhereinblog.net/omipialblog/post/4178
November 6th, 2006 at 6:31 am
I think if I want to slightly rephrase Zafa’s question, the spirit of the question is while it is easy to poke holes at what others have done ( in this case Star Weekend magazine), are we prescribing alternatives or are we just criticizing. While SWM’s article is not comprehensive, it is a step in the right direction. By shooting it down as another tear-jerker and ridiculing it, we will just be discouraging people from even talking about it. More constructive approach would have been to,
1. Write a letter to SWM to do a cover and a more comprehensive story on this appreciating their focus on the issues
2. Share your own stories with the readers here which reflects people from the poorer background and facilities that are lacking for them.
3. Explore how to engage the celebrities to talk more about these issues.
November 6th, 2006 at 7:05 am
Hear, hear! Wise words, Big Brother!
November 6th, 2006 at 8:31 am
Well I certainly applaud the actions of the celebrities in their decision to raise more awareness about drugs.
But what I certainly do not agree with this is this view that by criticising the Daily Star article, I am “poking holes” or “ridiculing”.
This article was a wasted opportunity, a case of lazy reporting and the usual Daily Star attitude, common in the English language press of taking a top-down view of society. “If its in Dhaka and the rich are into it - it must be good”.
The Daily Star are not exactly solving anything by printing vacuous articles about drug abuse amongst the elites. I want more information and I have a right to criticise the press if they can’t supply it. That’s surely a cornerstone of the society we would all would like to see in Bangladesh surely? So I’m quite surprised that we should be so sensitive about criticising the press.
November 6th, 2006 at 8:55 am
No problem with the criticism. But it should be done where they can see it — to their paper for it to be effective, perhaps? Its kind of criticizing efforts to save Madhabi because we don’t have a comprehensive solution to the the larger problem of domestic abuse. 1 step at a time, yaar !
November 6th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Oh come on Asif.
I’m not dealing with the “bigger issues” here. I’m talking about a single silly piece run in the Daily Star which takes a constricted view of yaba abuse in Dhaka. It then goes general and includes the entire drug problem using a moralistic, elitist attitude to elites taking drugs. Frankly, It was a joke.
And if you only want people to criticise articles by the Daily Star on the Daily Star itself, why comment on them on this blog? Why have a blog at all?
November 6th, 2006 at 9:40 am
Okay mate, I give up. I will let Ahmede, Hana, Elita or Nader defend SWM.
November 6th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
hey,
someone just left this link on my blog (www.elitakarim.blogspot.com) and asked me to take a look at it. thank you whoever it was!
i agree with sir arthur. i think we shud actually work on a story revolving around rehabs. infact, we at the SWM, the daily star, have already begun to get in touch with some of the rehab centres in BD. personally, i am also looking into issues like what wud be the proper rehab centre, what r the special medical steps that are to be taken, psychological etc. in dhaka there r a few centres which have the reputation of making cases worse.
the drug problem persists not only in the rich section of the soceity but also in the middle class. cases in the middle class sections are worse. because of lack of ready cash, young people indulge into just about anything for the sake of a mere whif or a taste of cocaine or yaba or whatever it is that is readily available.
i wud really appreciate suggestions from everyone as to what issues to emphasise on, if there are certain people you think we should talk to and rehabs you think we shud visit.
November 6th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Sid,
If I understand your sentiment correctly, you are saying – why not pay attention to the root cause of the problem, and the majority of the addicts who are already deprived, living on the streets….etc.
You know, blogging is almost like second hand journalism – most times based on available info. When I heard about this new phenomenon, the only article I found available on the Bangla online media the SWM one.
The blog piece on Yaba was not meant to show any favoritism towards the privileged society. It struck me as a crisis that can hit the people with all the earthly possession, as much as the deprived under-privileged ones living on the streets (who are substituting with cheaper version I presume).
I confess I do not know the real grave picture of drug abuse on the streets of Dhaka. I didn’t know if there is any big initiative taken to address the issue. I look forward to Elita’s article on rehab.
But I do not buy in to the notion that DP cannot address the crisis of the elite class – that will be like reverse discrimination, won’t it?
Also I will not get in to an argument as to what the Star Weekend magazine should or should not publish. If someone didn’t like to read it, they can choose to not read it.
There is at least one new post in DP blog. I hope you’ll find other things that you can appreciate more.
November 7th, 2006 at 6:49 am
Hey Elita,
welcome to DP blog. Some of us here are fans of your music. For those of you who don’t know, Elita is the lead singer of the group called Raaga. Hope to see you more in here while we try to bridge the gap between the RB/NRB world.
Sid,
Now you can give direct input to the writer for future articles on this issue. May be you can give Elita the lead on the Sayedabad junkies.
November 7th, 2006 at 9:25 am
Hi Elita
Nice to see you understood my point about the imbalance in coverage in the original story without falling into a defensive knee jerk reaction about “ridiculing” the entire nation of Bangladesh and being asked to supply details about what I done to help junkies in Dhaka.
I really would like to know about the treatments they give addicts in these rehab centres. What techniques do they use to wean them off heroin? Do they prescribe methadone? I’ve heard some horror stories about making the addicts go through cold turkey, violence, etc. I would also like to know if these people had drugs habits in their villages or was it a product of the hardships of living in Dhaka? What is the penetration of drug addiction in rural vs urban areas?
I’m less interested in yaba because, in spite of what the story said, its still too expensive to have had that much penetration into the middle and low incomes. This is not to say that I don’t care about the welfare of affluent drug victims, but they have their own support mechanisms which almost always bypass home-grown services. Junkies from Gulshan who are packed off to some rehab clinic in Bangkok are a tiny fraction of the overall drug problem in Bangladesh. My complaint, if it can be called that, about the Daily Star article was that it seemed to be totally absorbed with this minute, unrepresentative demographic.
As for the junkies from low income groups, I’d like to see how they support themselves. Anyone who has lived in Dhaka and has spent time with low income groups knows about the complicated social constructs people have adapted for themselves to support themselves, in the face of almost zero-support from government agencies. And junkies have unspoken rules of engagement of their own as well. I’d like to know how these support structures intertwine. Life’s hard enough in Dhaka on Taka 3500 a month. How is it with an expensive drug habit to support for these people?
For what its worth, my interest is comes from a desire to make a film about this group someday. Please keep me informed about the story you put together. Look forward to that. My blog address is on the link on my name.
Thanks.
November 7th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Yeah, I know about Raaga because mah homey, Shaikat (aka Chisti) plays guitar with them. Welcome to the great debate, Elita!
November 7th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Sohini (assuming you are the same one), I happened to have listened to the demo you made - “ronger duniya” - pretty good.
Watch out Anusheh…!
Elita, is Raaga going to have any concert in December in Dhaka? Would love to go to one.
(Not that your journalistic work is any less imp.)
November 9th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Thank you, Zafa. Where did you get the demo?
November 9th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
i really appreciate all the points that u put forward sid and i will definitely work on them. in a way i think i do have an inkling of what u mean when u say that the rehab centres in our country are really not all that developed, and thats mainly coz the doctors or the people who are suposed to help the patients rather treat them like dirt and i mean that LITERALLY. the other day i heard abt a particular centre in dhaka, where the patients are tied up most of the time so that they wud noe get into trouble. the person who owns the centre… sounds like a psycho to me. he seems to believe that drug addicts are practically the spawns of satan himself.
sadly enough, people in our couuntry seem to think that drug addicts ‘der choritro kharap’ and that ‘the good kids’ shud stay away from them. they dont get the fact that drug addiction is nothing but a sort of disease. interestingly, along with social, economic, materialistic devlopment in the coutry, more and more youngsters and souls which are insecure within tend to look for isolation and comfort in their isolated space. unfortunately, thats when many turn to drugs and become addicted.
what i mentioned above may not be true for everyone, but this is just what i understood after speaking to a few addicts. i still have a LOONNGGGG way to go.
this cant be done alone and we really do need all the help that we canget. do let me know what you guys would like to know and i wud not mind a few tips here and there either.
RaaGa has begun to work on its second album and hopes for a release early next year. thanks;)
September 6th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Yo Zafa,
Just found out my little brother is now a yaba addict. I live in the USA and had no idea what to do to help him. So your article helps. I’ll be calling the numbers this morning (Dhaka time).
Sid, don’t be a hater dude. I grew up being very poor but I studied hard, got me a scholarship, made it a bit bigger.. a little less poor and sent money home to help, didn’t know I was financing drug addiction. I know there are many others in my shoes one way or another so please stop being an insensistive prick.
Thanks,
Shaka
October 19th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Hi Shaka,
There are a lot of addicts in Bangladesh who have recovered and are leading a normal life. Help is available, there are a few good rehabs in Dhaka.
“Giving up any addiction is easy but staying away is difficult”.
I strongly suggest you get phone those numbers - 01713060001 0r 01713060002 to share the experiences of the parents/guradians of addicts / recovering addicts.
Parent’s/family members of additcs usually become co-addicts with time. They seem to make a lot of wrong decisions.
The first thing is to get knowlege of what is help is available and how to go about it - you can get first hand infomration from those phone numbers.
Helal
October 21st, 2007 at 6:40 am
Good for them
At least now they are getting a taste of what their politically intrigued and industrially affluent parents help bring about in BD. The best thing to do right now is to listen to Floyd, wear cargo jeans, a goatee and take some YABA..after that they can forget all about reality and fiscal interests so that us, middle class folks can enjoy a better life filled with the absence of rich snobs.
Live by the sword..die by the sword.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I HAVE A SHOCKER FOR ALL OF YOU who thin rehab centres are the answer.I have done drugs since the age of 15(am 24 clean n doing a job right now,Thank Allah) About 3 years back I was into heroin hardcore.I have done virtually every drug you can think of,Yaba,Coke,Heroin,speed,ecstaccy,tried phensydyl never liked it.I had enough and I wanted to clean up my act. i CHECKED MYSELF INTO A FAMOUS REHAB CENTRE IN GULSHAN and while I was there i discovered the owner of the rehab has a son who is addicted to yaba,During my TWO WEEKS treatment, three times this guy visited the rehab centre and he was buzzing.Just Imagine, we are trying to get better and we see someone buzzing in front of us.Upto date I think that guy is still an addict.
I thank God that I have still remained clean for the last 2 years.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Addiction is a problem elsewhere, no matter how developed or how poor the country is. As BD is a Muslim dominated country one can expect less number of addicted people but unfortunately the real picture is not so pleasant. One reason is the absence of basic knowledge of Islamic faith among the majority Muslim population. Islam does not allow one to harm himself/herself as the life is an ‘amanat’ given by Allah. Islam is a complete code of life. It guaranted the peace of worldly life as well as peace in the life hereafter. Someone may make a mistake considering a group of people (political or religious) to be the perfect Muslim and if they find something wrong with them they blame Islam. they got the wrong message. One must judge Islam by Islamic rules and regulations directly from the Holy Quran and the holy sayings of the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Please don’t judge a car by it’s driver ratehr the car itself. Islam itself is the only way of salvation. If someone does not see any good in Islam that means he/she is not in Islam. A real Muslim never even think of any substance abuse let alone crime. Likewise Muslim parents avoid non-halal income and their offsprings rarely go astray. I ask myself and you as well to be a real Muslim parent, a real Muslim son/daughter. For other religions - if they follow their own religion properly there must be a harmony and nice society in our beloved homeland.
Thanks for reading my comments.
Writing from University of Bath,UK
October 25th, 2007 at 8:20 am
I am working with HIV/AIDS and I found out that the drug users of even these well-off families are showing incredible negligence..:((
Starting from needle sharing, sexual realation with multiple partners and worst of all under the influence of yaba, they are completely losing self-control.
This is high time to create awareness about yaba and HIV.
October 27th, 2007 at 3:33 am
my respects and regards to all of you..
first off..i’d like to appriciate for the time everyone has taken to write and share views about drugs and it’s abuse in bd.i am not a very good writer and probably very young than a lot of you here.(16)
so please, if i hurt anyone’s feelings or ego, i apologize in advance.
“Zafa (bhaia)..”posted a report/critic on the daily star magazine article to just catch his friends and other people’s attention or aware them into what actually is going on. he basically was trying to point out how the upper class people were actually taking time out of their personal life to help others who are in trouble.VERY NICE ZAFA BH!!!honestly..i respect you for that…
than…SA and Zafa bh drifted into an arguement which honestly drifted off from the point of what was actually being said.
my point here is…you both, actually you all, could have spend more time in creating a info or a help session if you are so interested in this topic!!!we are talking about bangladeshi’s here not american people who simply hear and try to ccontemplate on what you have to say aloud because “its a free country” and blah blah…
we need more help and i mean way more help than you can imagine!i was in bd for past two years and i have actually known quite a lot of people who are now(news paper wise) known to be the most hugest customer/consumer/dealers of the country..and what is funny/yet scary is me and couple of my friends would never have known that these familiar faces can be so dangerous. i strongly request all of you to be in action with this kind of awareness rather than arguing between each other about classes and trying to prrove who is right or “more bright” or wrong.again i apologize for any inconvinience(and also spelling and grammar errors)
please and thankyou.