PARADIGM SHIFT NEEDED IN TREATING DADAH ADDICTS

KUALA LUMPUR - There is an urgent need to have a paradigm shift in the
venue for treating dadah addicts from the present rehabilitation centres
to mosques and other places of worship, an eminent addiction psychiatrist
Prof Dr Mohamad Hussian Habil said today. He told Bernama that the shift
would provide dual benefits, in that the addicts would be at ease in the
serene and peaceful environment of the mosque and it would also help them
to satisfy their spiritual needs.

In addition, the shift would also tremendously reduce government
expenditure on the rehabilitation of these addicts.

Currently, the government spends about RM300 million annually to maintain
and run these centres spread around the country.

There are an estimated one million heroin addicts in the country. Prof
Mohamad, who is the head of the University of Malaya Medical Centre
Department of Psychiatry, said the proposal had been forwarded to the
Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) through the joint task
force for the rehabilitation of drug addicts by the Ministry of Health.

Prof Mohamad, who is also a member of the task force, said discussions
were now in progress on the proposal.

He pointed out that Jakim had only to organise the venue and provide
facilities for clinicians to treat the addicts within mosque premises.

Prof Mohamad said methadone was used for treating heroin addicts while
veranicline or champiq was used to treat those who were addicted to glue
sniffing.

Both treatments were for a period of three to six months and had been
found to be very effective.

The approach now was to treat addicts as patients needing medical
attention as drugs could help them overcome their addiction.

Research done at the University Malaya Medical Centre showed that 65
percent of the addicts who underwent the methadone treatment managed to
get back to work after six months of medication.

On the proposal by Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar that the
rehabilitated addicts be employed by the government, he said it was a good
idea as this would assist to de-stigmatise the whole problem of dadah
addiction and give it a new "image". At present most of the rehabilitated
addicts were employed by the private sector.

Prof Mohamad said it was important to remember that addiction was a
"disease" and it had a cure just like other aliments such as diabetes,
hypertension and malaria.

He hoped society would not discriminate against the "cured" addicts as
they were just like ordinary people wanting love and to have a family as
well as a desire to succeed in life.