EX-ADDICT: ‘DON’T TAKE THE UGLY PATH I TOOK’
▶ Former drug users urge young people not to be drawn in by dealers
Mohammed was 16 when he started using hashish, but that quickly led to harder drugs.
It would be more than 10 years before he could finally control his addiction.
Now clean for more than three years and a member of the addiction support group Narcotics Anonymous, he feels that addiction should be treated not punished, a view that was reflected in the updated drugs law issued last year.
“Drug addiction should be treated as a disease, not a crime,” he said. “When a person is found consuming opiates, he should not be punished but should be treated.
“Our group’s message is that any addict can stop using drugs and find a new way to live.”
Mohammed, 32, an Egyptian and other addicts told their stories as Dubai Police launched Be with Your Children, They will be Safe, a campaign urging parents to spend more time with their youngsters and watch out for any signs of trouble.
He said trying to get clean was a struggle but now he hoped to help others in a similar situation.
“I started using drugs in 2001,” Mohammed said.
“I studied pharmacy and had access to different types of drugs. Then I started taking hard drugs and went through different stages in my life, including divorce.
“My family members were very supportive, even through my struggle with rehabilitation. They are not very strict and no one in the family had gone through a similar situation. I am the one who chose to take this ugly path.”
After reaching a crossroads, Mohammed contacted the support group and is very thankful for the help he received.
“I found people who accept me the way I am,” he said.
“We usually have meetings in different emirates to speak about any struggle we go through or about our major accomplishment, which is becoming clean and continuing our lives peacefully.
“There are no strings attached to NA. We are not interested in what you have done in the past, only in what you want to do about your problem, and how we can help.”
Another former addict, also called Mohammed, said he had been clean for seven years.
“All members of NA have helped me a lot,” said Mohammed, 31. “They were always there when I needed them and were not expecting anything in return.
“I started drugs when I was about 15. There was no specific reason for trying a drug; I just felt different than others and didn’t fit in with my peers.
“After I entered university, I used heavy drugs. I wanted to stop and, thankfully, I did by the age of 25.”
Sammar started on opiates after graduating from university. Now 30, she has recently married and started a new life.
“I just wanted to try something
I started when I was about 15. There was no specific reason for trying a drug; I just felt different than others and didn’t fit in with my peers
new and it led me to addiction,” she said.
“One of my friends said, ‘do you want to try it?’
“When I first tried it, it made me happy and outspoken. Later on I started using heavy drugs, such as heroin. Now, I am very happy that I have been clean for almost two years.”
Brig Eid Hareb, director of the anti-narcotics department at Dubai Police, said parents should spend more time talking with their children, so that problems could be caught before damage was done.
“Parents should have tight control over their children, listen
to their problems and keep communicating with them,” he said. “This will help parents to notice any abnormal behaviour and symptoms of addiction.”
Brig Hareb said that the main reasons youths fell into the trap of addiction were “peer pressure, bad friends and parents’ negligence”.
Sami Hassan, spokesman for the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation in Dubai, said the centre was open to all comers and people as young as 16 had used its services.
Mr Hassan said there were many forms of parental negligence that could lead to addiction
– even spoiling children.
“The centre has received drug users aged between 16 and 38 years old,” Mr Hassan said.
“I am dealing with the mother of a 24-year-old drug addict at the centre who used to give her son a lot of money. When she found out he took drugs, she decided not to give him any more money.
“But the boy became violent and the mother had no other choice but to give him money to avoid domestic violence.”
Anyone needing help for drug problems can call Narcotics Anonymous on 050 131 0055, or visit nauae.org.