Two drug addicts to help others in rehab after receiving initial training

Two long-term drug addicts will soon lead others down the path of recovery, thanks to a Community Development Authority programme.

Two Emirati men, one in his 30s and the other in his 40s, have completed several rehabilitation programmes, both in and out of jail, and have been given the initial training to act as rehabilitation assistants at the CDA’s after-care centre, Ownak.

CDA social services specialist Dr Hussain Maseeh said the “very longterm goal” was to have a number of former clients become fully fledged and qualified drug rehabilitation therapists.

“I feel like the father of the bride,” he said, on the success of the two men. Both had been using drugs for about 20 years, despite being well-educated, bright and active in life.

“Experimentation is the reason why they got into this and peer pressure, and they’ve been through many trials.” But both had also exhibited strong leadership qualities and emotional maturity, helping other addicts during rehabilitation programmes, which was why the CDA had chosen them to work alongside.

Maseeh said he was confident the pair would go from strength to strength in their new roles, and would successfully manage their own addictions.

“They say once an addict always an addict and that’s in some way true, it’s a disease that you manage. “One of them said…‘I know that I’m still weak, that I might regress and fall off the wagon, and the knowledge that this is possible is sort of a positive fear factor that encourages me to work harder, pay more attention to my life, not relax about this’.” Because addiction was a lifelong battle, after-care drug rehabilitation centres, which kicked in after people had spent six to 18 months in rehabilitation, were essential.

“Once they fall, they fall very hard, and that’s why places like Ownak are very important... someone once asked me ‘How long do you follow up with the addicts for?’, and the answer is for the rest of their lives.”

Studies showed that only 36 per cent did not suffer a relapse within the first year, even in rehab centres, Maseeh said.

“Sixty-four per cent relapse, this is a high rate. This is how this disease is, it’s cunning, it’s very difficult to deal with.”

Having people who had overcome addictions advising others would be invaluable on several counts, he said.

“For one, they have credibility, this is something we hear a lot when we talk to addicts and tell them…how bad drugs are, usually they have the attitude that ‘You don’t know what it’s like to be addicted, it’s not easy’.”

The men would also have an inside track on the behaviour of addicts, to know “when they are lying or manoeuvering or not interested”.

Ownak, which has been open about five months and is helping 46 people, currently only caters to Emiratis, but Maseeh said that should soon change.

“When you deal with an issue like addiction, people other than the locals also have an effect in the community, so we cannot ignore them and say…they’re going to leave, that’s not true.”

He said he hoped within several years, drug rehabilitation would be open to all. There were also plans to open a live-in rehabilitation centre, which would be accompanied by more after-care centres like Ownak.

Maseeh would not confirm the amount of money the expansion would cost, other than to say it would be hundreds of millions of dirhams.

“Ironically, when you spend money on addiction programmes, you’re basically saving money.”

Savings came in the form of crime reduction, higher productivity, lower health and legal bills and accidents. Maseeh said one study suggested a drug addict cost society $1.5 million a year, whereas rehabilitation was just tens of thousands of dollars.

While it was hard to compare drug addiction in the UAE with the rest of the world because reported cases were just the “tip of the iceberg”, Maseeh said the complex ethnic and cultural make-up of the country probably played a role.

“All of these questions really are unanswered until now. There will be a focus on rehabilitation (in the next few years), and all of these questions will be addressed.”

Risk factors for drug addiction include youth, lower education and family disruptions.

amanda@khaleejtimes.com