Youngsters using 'Samad Bond' and other organic compounds as narcotics

[Naveed Yaseen]

RAWALPINDI: Youngsters are exposed to abuse of adhesives like glue while Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) and police have seemingly failed to cope with the situation. Daily Times has observed that the abuse of glue, petroleum products like varnish, spirit, thinner, benzene and alcoholic perfumes is rising among youngsters. Poor people, who are highly vulnerable to diseases, can put their lives at risk using these drugs. The addicts have easy access to these drugs as they are available in different markets at a cheap price. It is witnessed that youngsters from backward areas like Dhok Hasso, Pirwadhi, Dhok Kashmirian, Dhok Khaba, Dhok Ratta etc have specified some places to use these drugs. Their preferred places are deserted buildings, graveyards, open and wide gutters, under-construction houses, bridges and banks of Nullah Lah. Addicts of adhesives for over eight months don’t feel hunger or thirst and changing weather has become meaningless for them. It seems they are half dead and half alive. What itches them is lack of adhesives. “Glue is our life. We don’t demand anything but adhesives,” said 17-year-old Yousaf Masseh. He lives in a shelter at Pirwadhi Bus Stand with a group of four companions. Masseh said that he and his friends begged and each of them earned around Rs 50 daily. He said they were provided adhesives through an agent, as employees of hardware stores did not allow them to enter due to their appearances. He said that he did want to live any more as the life had become very hard for him. Manan alias Mani, another addict, said he could easily get adhesives on a double price from a shop. At the time of interview, he was not in senses, lying on a footpath opposite Motti Mehal Cinema and carrying a bottle filled with a yellow adhesive. Mani said NGOs and ANF teams took him to their luxurious rooms many times but then they left him on the footpath to his addiction. He said people used slang language with addicts. “This form of addiction (adhesives) is more dangerous than smoking hashish and other narcotics. Six months to one year of regular use of adhesives can cause mental illness and serious respiratory disorders. Even a single high dose can damage the brain or cause memory loss,” Dr Thair Sharif, presently working on a USAID project for TB control, told Daily Times. He said this form of addiction was called ‘deliberate inhalation of gases, chemical fumes or vapors for mind altering and recreational purposes. It gives a high similar to that produced by alcohol. The drug helps release tension and the user feels euphoric and sleepy’. He said the drugs could be taken through nose or mouth in a variety of ways and that adhesives addicts could become useful part of the society if the authorities concerned cared for them. A senior official of ANF said the society had to play a positive role to overcome the menace of adhesive drugs. He said the ANF was doing its best to tackle this menace.He accepted that the ANF did not have a comprehensive system to detect the whole network of adhesive carriers. imran asghar

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg11_6