Clandestine yaba dealing takes its toll

The recent crackdown on drug barons in the most posh area of the city with huge seizure of about 130,000 yaba tablets, beginning with the arrest of four kids belonging to some very affluent families in the city, has exposed the ugly side of wealth and power acquired in the past days of the political government.
Till before the recent clampdown by Rab (Rapid Action Battalion), the law enforcers took little notice and the citizenry seemed oblivious of the insidious trade looming up in the society. As the crackdown reveals, it's now a part of a blossoming and clandestine trade involving mainly the rich and the young as well as the corrupt business scions, themselves using it and extending the use among the children coming from the wealthy class of the society at large.
Yaba, as it appears has replaced other drugs as the favoured social lubricant among affluent urban Bangladeshis who largely view this drug as a recreational or good-time high. It has become the aspirational lifestyle accessory -- much like SUV or Lexus -- of those with money to dispose of.
Unhappily this drug, known as a crazy drug in Thailand and banned there long ago for its lethal effects on health, has become a drug of choice among the youngsters particularly the offspring of the wealthy sections of the society. Yaba, unlike cocaine, crack, or heroin, is available in the form of tablets and more ominously now being manufactured in the posh areas of the city and easy to carry or even transport from one place to another.
Unhappily, such drugs that till mid-90s were restricted to few in the country and that among those who traveled abroad frequently have now found entry even into the impoverished houses of the country.
Much to our consternation, rich young kids dominate the scene. As the country's urban affluence (spreads mostly through corrupt means), so does the number of drug users. The worrying new trend is that the age when the young begin experimenting with such party drugs has dropped to 16 and 17. As one confession made to Rab by the arrestees reveals, there are about thousands of such dealers in the country and one is led to believe that there may be about several lakh high society people and young kids belonging to the wealthy sections hooked to such party drugs.
Other cities, towns, and even rural areas of the country besides such affluent enclaves like Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi have witnessed a spurt in drug use but it is not as alarming as in these three posh areas in the city. So the demographic has changed vastly. It could be anyone between 16 and 30 with spare cash looking for a stress-buster or the instant gratification of the quick high.
Many youngsters start using this drug under peer pressure and this is what the arrestees have confessed to Rab: it is exceedingly difficult for a young man to not do what others are doing. Principals and teachers of many leading schools and colleges where these kids, belonging to the wealthy classes are admitted, point to a fair degree of drug use and their helplessness in arresting the trend because of the wealth and power these users wield..
Unlike alcohol-induced intoxication, yaba's popularity as a party drug has soared because it unleashes sensations like energy, exhilaration, a sense of freedom, and supremacy and stress release, other than working as a stimulant for sexual desire. Animated and intense talking fuelled by a surge of confidence and invincibility are common. After a thorough analysis of the nature of the problem, one is led to believe that till now mainly youngsters including college and university going girls belonging to the wealthy sections of the society and high income groups are involved in such drug dealing and abuse. But what is worrying is that the abuse is gradually spreading to the other strata of the society in an epidemic form, ruining the economic backbone of the middle and lower middle class people. The key area of concern is addicts who refuse to accept that they are hooked and later face serious psychological and physical problems, not to mention financial problems. The use of yaba-like drugs can lead to paranoia, depression, social isolation, and problems at work. What is helping it get out of hand is peer pressure, a desire to enhance status, together with the kind of disposable income that today's young people have and, more crucially, the lack of parental supervision. "Money is often used as a surrogate for affection," says a social analyst. Their reaction to drug use by their kids is usually denial.
Undeniably true, the spread of this menace is caused by the environment. In a large measure, it is the responsibility of the parents to step up the restoration of the moral values of the children that seem to be eroding fast. Many of the parents are not giving enough time in raising their children in a proper way. Some of these parents who are affluent beyond measure are given to habits like indulgence in drugs, drinks, party and nightclubs that transgress the limits of traditional social norms and family values, alienating the children from the family and making them disillusioned. Understandably, when the home life has the sparkle of champagne, dancing, and lately, drugs, till the wee hours, how can the kids turn to a life of morality, ethics, and family values?
In a bid to finding out the solutions to these problems, we must fulfill our commitments to our own children. Precisely speaking, only when we realise that we are hurting those dependent members of the society through excessive access to wealth that are not proper at that age, will we begin to deal realistically with this problem.
The problem cannot be solved by advancing arguments that those who cannot parent children must not have them. It is not that simple. Rather, parental rights must be evenly balanced by parental responsibility. And the way the government can proceed is to involve parents in the educational process. The major enemies of children today are illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol abuse and a culture that inspires anti-social and destructive behaviour in children.
These negative factors work day and night in our towns and cities that are mostly impoverished. In recent times it has never ceased to amaze the sensible citizenry that regardless of the state of the economy the level of ostentatious consumption keeps increasing in urban Bangladesh. Since the advent of liberalisation, the hesitation to display one's wealth has virtually vanished. In earlier days such displays would be clouded by a degree of embarrassment: now there is little inhibition.
But the consequences of turning night-time revelry into a regular lifestyle can be difficult to handle, particularly for the young. With the adolescent kids, both male and female, being caught with yaba tablets, viagra, and alcohol in sophisticated vilas of the city, and the drug trade extending to the farthest corner of the country beyond anybody's knowledge until the recent crackdown, it was little known that the disease has spread so fast and so far.
So sweeping is the extent of its damage to the society that nothing else discussed in the print and electronic media in the past weeks seemed enough. Government help, though very much desirable would hardly be enough to stem the tide. We must recall that there was a time when all the basic social forces were marshaled to teach children proper norms and values of life. The society has drifted very far from this approach. The erosion of values has put the nation in a quandary. We must try our best to restore the lost values. The sooner we can reach a consensus on what these values are, the quicker will we be able to avert a disaster that confronts our kids.
People throughout the country cry out for stricter penalties, harsher dispositions and better ways to stop the youthful terrorists and drug addicts. There have even been instances of young people being killed by their peers under the influence of drug. This heinous incidents will continue to happen unless the family values are restored. Precisely speaking, it is not these youngsters who are at fault but it is their environment and parents who need the corrective measures as the Rab, DG said on a TV talk show recently. If these parents would have devoted the same time, energy, resources, and money as they did to confront other crises, things would not have been so bad.
In making an analysis of the drug trade and drug addiction looming up now in the posh houses in the city and which tends to shatter the economic backbone of the middle class people and destroy the social norms, we see that the volume of this trade and addiction figures has increased rapidly. There are reports that the law enforcing agencies had some of these notorious drug dealers in their grasp dozens of times in the past during time of political government but they let them slip away because of political connection.
Many teenagers belonging to the affluent sections of the society, studying in different schools, colleges, and universities, especially private universities as the recent trend shows, are hooked to drug habit and even drug dealing. In many cases parents know the derailment of their children but they cannot assert and exercise their control over their children because of the loose lifestyle and corrupt means they themselves indulge in their everyday life.
Sadly true, a life of privilege can also be corrupting. Children who have everything given to them may come to believe that they are entitled to anything, that they are above their fellow human beings and above the law. And yet their busy overachieving parents may not be giving pampered teens what they need most: attention and supervision. The result is that children do not get the nurturing, guidance or supervision necessary to instill a set of values and a proper code of behaviour.
Government at all levels should step up battles against drugs, poverty, corruption and social inequity. Far more money should be poured into education and recreational opportunities for the young. Youngsters need more of their parents' time, and they need to know that society cares about them. Above all, affluent parents in the country, especially politically powerful people, high salaried professionals, and business tycoons should take a long, hard look in the mirror. The values of today's youth are merely magnified reflections of the values of their elders.
Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.