JEDDAH, 22 March — For years drug addiction has been a taboo subject. Many would not even admit to the painful fact of having someone using drugs in the family. Writers would shy away from the subject or try to put the blame on others or insist addiction and other social scars are alien to their society.
This seemed to be the case until recently. Last week the Saudi Arabian Television gave viewers the shock of their life by presenting them with full pictures of former addicts telling their experience with drug abuse and the ordeal they have gone through before undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.
Never before have so many addicts appeared in public to admit their problem and describe how their lives and livelihood have been ravaged by the scourge.
Several former addicts appeared before an audience of physicians, therapists and other patients still receiving treatment. Other figures including religious leaders, athletes and law enforcement officers joined the debate by addressing messages. It was the first of a ten-series television program intended to educate the public on the threats of drugs, said the host, Dr. Saud Al-Musaibeeh of the Public Relations and Guidance Department at the Ministry of Interior.
The star of the show was Yousuf Al-Saleh, a former addict who now works with Al-Amal Hospital in Dammam as supervisor advising and counseling patients.
“It is easy to start taking drugs, but it is very difficult to quit. Believe me, I know it well. Your life will never be the same again. My advice is not to try it even once because once you are in, that means destruction of your life and the future of your family.”
Al-Saleh was one of several rehabilitated addicts who agreed to appear before the camera and talk about their experience. Some who were still under treatment agreed to appear in silhouette. Al-Saleh said he spent more than 20 years using drugs. He was admitted for treatment more than 17 times and served various prison terms for crimes associated with drug abuse.
When asked what type of drugs he was using he answered “everything.”
Al-Amal, which in Arabic means hope, is a series of rehabilitation centers founded by the government in major cities across the Kingdom to provide free treatment. These hospitals, unfortunately, receive only male patients. Any woman found addicted has to go to psychological units in public or private hospitals.
A survey of drug addicts in Jeddah has revealed that over 50 percent of drug users are single, unemployed, and drawn from the low-income group. They also lacked high school education.
A major finding of the survey undertaken by Dr. Nayyar Iqbal of Al-Amal Hospital in Jeddah and involving subjects hailing from places other than Jeddah including Makkah and Taif was that very few drug users were committed to completing the treatment program. Of the 172 subjects treated for medical detoxification, six percent were back for drug rehabilitation. Of the 95 subjects committed to program completion, only 11.5 percent went through rehabilitation, while the rest requested discharge after detoxification.
The way society views addicts and the method of treatment applied drew much criticism during the program with some patients calling for changes. Al-Saleh said each time he was admitted to hospital he refused to cooperate with the doctors because he was viewed as an addict and not as a patient. It was only after they started treating him as a patient did he begin cooperating and speaking out his mind, he said.
One man whose picture appeared in solid black was a father of three, divorced and had a college degree in military studies. He spent 25 years consuming alcohol and ended up losing his job and family. He mentioned three things which he said had led him to addiction; weak family supervision, extensive traveling and bad company.
Another youth named Nasser said he used alcohol for 30 years and throughout this period was not convinced that alcoholism is indeed a form of addiction. “It was only after being admitted to the rehabilitation center that I started realizing the seriousness of my problem. I spent the first four months telling every one that I was not an addict. Now I know that alcoholism is more dangerous than any other form of addiction.” He is now building a new life seeing his elder son graduate from college to become a petroleum engineer.
“I have a grown-up daughter who feels embarrassed whenever wanting to talk to me. She would just sit there saying nothing but her eyes tell it all. I know this is the case with other family members. They all want to talk to me but something prevents them from doing so. I don’t want any of my children to face such a situation in future,” said the father of three.