Drug addiction has been a common aspect for the youth of this
generation. This drug addiction is gradually destroying the future of the
youth. Today, this is an open secret to everybody but there is no strong
initiatives taken to prevent people from taking illegal drugs which are harming
them. The most recent form of addiction towards drugs is that of Yaba. And
suddenly it got popular among the young generation without people from other
age groups not having any knowledge about this. It initially spread among
higher class and higher middle class people. Now the youth generation, instead
of building their future, is destroying it with a poisonous drug called Yaba.
The use of Yaba had been sweeping through the youth populace in
the Dhaka city’s posh neighborhoods until the recent hauls. It began to spread
at an alarming pace since the launch of a massive clampdown on heroin and
Phensidyle dealers about a few years ago. More and more youths in areas like
Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhanmondi switched to the deadly pills with
heroin and Phensidyle becoming less available.
Yaba, Thai for ‘crazy medicines’, however has been the drug of
choice among a section for quite a long time now. But as most of the pushers
were from families having close connection with the past governments they could
not be tough on them, leading to its steady spread.
Yaba is said to have been originally used by Hitler who gave it
to his soldiers to combat against fatigue, heighten endurance and elevate the
mood. This Nazi lineage has given the drug street credibility like nothing
before it. While most of the ingredients to make it can be purchased legally,
and produced within a couple of hours in a casserole dish, there are no such
known drug labs in Bangladesh. Yaba is a mixture of methamphetamine, caffeine
and at times heroin.
There are umpteen drugs being used in Bangladesh, Heroin,
Cocaine, Ecstasy, Yaba, Phensydil, Crystal Meth, and many more. The problem is
that the number of users is rising at a frightening rate. Worse, these drugs
have found mass appeal in almost all age groups. From people in their early
teens to the fifties, a major portion of society has got aboard the drug train,
a train that runs not on oil or coal, but the newest drug in town, Yaba.
Farah (not her real name) is 18 years old and has been using
drugs since the age of 14. Her story like many others started out with
Marijuana. It was through the simple use of Marijuana that she opened the doors
to a much wider use of drugs. After experimenting with drugs for a bit, she
soon realised that she was addicted to heroin. She says it was purely
accidental, and soon enough got over the addiction. Farah suffered from severe
withdrawal but eventually when she kicked the habit she knew that she could
never go back to it. But after hearing about a new drug called Yaba, she
decided to try it. She started using it after she entered a circle of friends
who were completely immersed into it. In her opinion that is not the only
reason she started hard drugs again: “Everybody is doing it because there is
nothing better to do in this town”.
The truth is that there are umpteen drugs being used in
Bangladesh, Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy, Yaba, Phensydil, Crystal Meth, and many
more. The problem is that the number of users is rising at a frightening rate.
Worse, these drugs have found mass appeal in almost all age groups. From people
in their early teens to the fifties, a major portion of society has got aboard
the drug train, a train that runs not on oil or coal, but the newest drug in
town, Yaba.
Yaba is said to have been originally used by Hitler who gave it
to his soldiers to combat against fatigue, heighten endurance and elevate the
mood. This Nazi lineage has given the drug street credibility like nothing
before it. While most of the ingredients to make it can be purchased legally,
and produced within a couple of hours in a casserole dish, there are no such
known drug labs in Bangladesh. Yaba is a mixture of methamphetamine, caffeine
and at times heroin. Some people claim it is the ultimate upper, the inevitable
crash after the high is the darkest side of the drug. It had been linked to
lung and kidney disorders, hallucinations, increased and irregular heartbeat
along with a host of other psychological effects. Users of Yaba 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.
The route to Bangladesh is fairly simple; the little pink pills
are produced in Burma and smuggled into Bangladesh mainly through Teknaf. The
Burma news agency claims that when the drug crosses the border it is sold at
approximately Tk 13 per pill. By the time the pills reach Dhaka and have gone
through various middle men, they are sold for between Tk 50 and Tk 60. The real
money is made when the dealers in Dhaka get a hold of it, they mark it up
almost 500% and the average pill sells for between Tk 350 and Tk 400.
There are varying degrees of good pills and bad pills. The
Chita, for instance, is considered the lower grade of Yaba, it is distinguished
by small marks on the pill. Then there is the Golap Jol or Rose Water family of
pills which are generally considered the highest grade of Yaba. While the Chita
gives the user a relatively smaller buzz, the Golap Jol” gives a pure rush,
something like a burst of adrenaline. The pills themselves also come under much
scrutiny, they have the letters WY inscribed on them, when the Y is elongated
and the colour of the pill is pure pink then it is apparently good Yaba. The
information regarding this one drug is immense and what is even more startling
is that a pair of 18-year-olds provided us with all the above-mentioned
information.
Johnny (not his real name) is a 19-year-old boy who started using
Yaba just for fun. His first exposure to drugs was through Marijuana, he
started at the age of 15 and got addicted to it by the age of 17. He says that
when he first started Yaba it was not that well known, and it was brought into
the county by the children of the powerful and influential. “It (Yaba) exploded
in late 2004 and now it is like Ganja, everyone has it, its quite normal now”,
he says. Johnny tells us a story when, at a party in October last year, a Yaba
dealer came and sold a few pills to two or three people and without much fuss
left. He goes on to say that in June this year at a party with almost the same
people a Yaba dealer showed up, only this time everyone went and bought a few
pills from him. “The change has been dramatic, as soon as it was widely
available even though it was still pretty expensive everyone started using it,
from 12-year-old girls to 50-year-old men”. When he was completely hooked on
the drug he spent in excess of Tk 12,000 a week on it. The sensations he
related to the drug were those of paranoia, insecurity and hyper behaviour in
general. Yet even after the inevitable depression after the upper wears off was
not enough to keep him away from it, it only spurred him on to keep the buzz as
long as his money could hold out.
While Yaba may be all the rage now, it still competes with
Heroin as the most consumed drug in Bangladesh. Heroin has found a niche in the
Bangladeshi drug culture; it is relatively cheap and is widely available. Yaba
may be the drug of choice for a higher income bracket but Heroin has always had
a steady customer base, from the desperately poor to the rich. Most of the
Heroin available here is actually Heroin “dust”, not the real deal. As usual we
can blame Burma as one of the prime sources of supply, but the main problem is
the fact that there is a high demand from our local markets. Heroin is also
smuggled in from our Indian borders and that Heroin usually comes from the
poppy fields of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Rony (not his real name) is a 21-year-old boy who took the time
to talk to us about his Heroin addiction. He says the root of all drugs lies in
the taking up of cigarettes. From there the natural step is to try Marijuana
and so on. That is how he started, from Marijuana he first tried Phensidyl, he
soon got addicted to downers and soon Phensidyl was not hard enough as a
downer. He elevated it next to Heroin, the almost hypnotic effect of Heroin had
him from the first time he tried it. The following three years were the worst
in his life, “There were times when I would spend Tk 2000 a day on the double
downers of Phensidyl and Smack (Heroin), and even after that I was not
satisfied,” He said. “I was so into the “pinik” (feeling) it gave, we even
started having Yaba and Heroin together, one upper and one downer, it was the
ultimate speedball effect”. It started affecting his health quite badly, on top
of which, he also started Crystal Meth or “Ice” as its known. He tried to quit
it a few times but could never quite make it, “The first 72 hours are the
toughest, once you can make it past that, you are set," he said. But he
could never gather the will power to leave. He says the friends he was hanging
out with then were probably the biggest reason he failed to quit. “If everybody
is having it, you just have to as well”. He finally had enough when the
depression and anger had become too much, he wanted to quit but needed help.
“My family supported me through thick and thin, without them I could never have
quit, support is what one needs to overcome the lure of Heroin” he told us.
This story represents both the best and worst that drugs can offer but how can
the problem be tackled?
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