Drug epidemic

KARACHI: The recent murder of a sexagenarian man at an apartment in Karachi’s Saddar area, allegedly by a 40-year-old woman living at his home, shocked the city after police investigation revealed the suspect was “high on ice” during the criminal act.

The grisly crime has opened a window into the silent epidemic of drug abuse that is sweeping across the city. The harmful effects of illicit substances, particularly ‘ice’, have destroyed the lives of countless drug addicts along with those of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the system remains hopelessly ill-equipped to deal with the burning issue.

A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report titled Word Drug Report 2021 stated that an increasing population is at a higher risk of drug use. The rate is even higher in low-income countries.

The UNODC website data has revealed that a national drug survey in the country indicated “a high prevalence of drug-using population in Pakistan.”

Faisal Edhi, a renowned philanthropist and trustee of the Edhi Foundation, informed Bol News that in the areas of Lyari, Landhi, Korangi and Banaras, at least one youth in every neighbourhood is consuming drugs. “At our project at the Edhi Foundation started to help the victims of drugs abuse, we do not force treatment on addicts. Firstly, we hold counselling sessions that involve the victims’ family members. And the results always show improvement. Societal attitude must change towards them”, he stressed.

“The pilot project we had in Orangi area yielded good results. We had the capacity to accommodate around 50 to 100 patients and now we are trying to expand the project to accommodate and rehabilitate as many as 200 recovering addicts at a time. From our experience in rehabilitating victims, we have learnt that it takes about 15 to 30 days to remove the effects of drugs from their system. We give medication for drug-withdrawal symptoms. When they first take the anti-drug pill, the patients experience the withdrawal effects for about a week.

“This can have serious psychological effects on the recovering addicts so we have to carefully monitor them. Many patients try to harm themselves so we also give them pills to reduce their pain and ease their path to recovery. It is also absolutely necessary to provide the right doses of glucose and other carbohydrates at this critical stage. The overall treatment is not so expensive”, he added.

A major market

Tahir Ahmed, a psychotherapist at a drug addiction rehabilitation centre in Karachi, said the city is the largest market in the country when it comes to the regional supply, distribution and consumption of drugs. “Yes, the drugs’ consumption has significantly increased in the provincial capital over the past few years.”

Commenting on the ‘ice’ or crystal meth abuse in Karachi, he added that it is difficult to quantify whether or not there is an increase in consumption of this stimulant. “However, since crystal meth is now found in Quetta instead of the Afghanistan side, consumption of this cheap drug has increased exponentially.”

He further said that there has been a rise in crimes due to ice consumption in society. “Ice causes psychotic rage so both domestic violence as well as street crimes have increased in the major cities.” He also said the rehab centres do not necessarily have to struggle with the number and kind of cases that show up. “There should be a good balance between medicine and deep therapy while approaching victims of drug abuse.

“Crystal meth causes hypomania and delusions. It destroys sleep and appetite and invariably leads to violent behaviour. Proper training in pharmacotherapy is essential to treat the drug problem together with mass family education to prevent further increase in drug use.”

Vice Chairperson of the Al-Shakoor Foundation Mishal Ashraf, who also serves as a clinical psychologist at the foundation’s mental health clinic and as a drug addiction therapist at a rehab centre, told Bol News that Karachi has witnessed a ‘huge’ consumption in drugs in recent years. “It is mostly the youth that are involved in the consumption of drugs. I cannot give an exact figure for the intake of ice but yes, the abuse of the drug has increased in the city”. We can say there has been a rise in the crime rate due to the consumption of ice, the drug addiction therapist added.

Support is essential

The clinical psychologist asserted that we can support the victims by making family support groups. “Teaching family and friends how to handle the victim’s mood and tantrums by, first, not displaying aggression toward the addicts and secondly by considering them as mentally ill” is important, she said.

Ice is a stronger form of methamphetamine that results in more harmful effects than the powdered meth. The effects of the drug are unpredictable. Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, dehydration, violent behaviour, psychosis, an unconscious state of mind are commonly noticed in addicts, she also said.

She observed that many recovering addicts are making their level best to balance their daily routine. She stressed that early diagnosis of drug addiction by keeping a check on a potential victim’s daily routine is absolutely necessary.

Commenting on the issue of societal hurdles, she emphasised that government intervention could help before the drug crisis exacerbates.

Cautionary tales

To better understand the struggles of people addicted to drugs as well as those who have successfully recovered from the problem, Bol News spoke to victims who were rehabilitating at the Edhi Welfare Organisation’s Special Home at the Sohrab Goth area in Karachi.

Baba Alam, 69, who had been living at the Edhi Home since the past 11 years, said the path to recovery was possible for struggling addicts if they have the will to overcome the stigma attached to the therapy. “I have been taken care of and respected at this Edhi Home ever since I stepped in here. I started consuming drugs in 1982-1983 and continued to do so until 2010. When I started consuming with my peers, the drugs were cheap and easily available in Karachi. Today’s youth must not gamble their lives like [we] did”, he warned.

Nadeem Suleman, 46, who has been living at the Edhi Home in Sohrab Goth for the past two years, said “I recovered from my drug addiction just over two months ago. It took me four months or so to overcome the crisis. Now, my health is normal and I have started looking after others to protect them from what I had gone through. I used to suffer from irritation in the early phase of recovery, but now I feel alright. The early days’ experience was excruciating but if you just hold on, you eventually overcome the pain”.

When contacted to comment on the overall drugs problem and the drug-related crime situation in the metropolis, the Sindh ANF public relations officer turned down Bol News’ request for a statement, citing the denial of permission by the high-ups in the executive bureau.

The reportedly high prevalence of drug consumption, and its repercussions in society, calls for the overwhelming need for stricter implementation of anti-drug laws, drug prevention, and interventions by the people caring for victims and the opening of more treatment centres across areas where the consumption rate is high.

Earlier this year, the Sindh government unanimously passed the Control of Narcotic Substances (Sindh Amendment) Bill, 2021 as part of the measures to curb the menace of illegal drugs.

Such measures, along with proper care systems, could help in dealing with the problem of drug peddling in the major cities that is eventually connected to larger networks of narcotics in the region.