CHAINED TO POST IN A MOSQUE - TOUGH CURE FOR ADDICTS

But It Has Helped Dozens of Addicts in Indonesia, Particularly Those From
Poor Families Who Can't Afford Pricey Clinics

JAKARTA - Drug addicts in a crowded Jakarta kampung are being submitted to
one of the toughest drying-out regimes around.

They are being chained to a post in a mosque for weeks on end.

But the unconventional cure has helped dozens over the past few years as
the number of drug abusers in the country has exploded.

Nineteen-year-old Arif does not know how long he has been staying at the
Nurul Alam Mosque.

'Long time, I don't know how long,' he mumbled.

He does not remember much because three years of using shabu, the street
name of crystal methamphetamine, has taken its toll, said a group of boys
near the mosque.

Nor does Arif have much choice in how long he will stay.

He was shackled with chains to a post after his parents brought him to this
alternative rehabilitation centre several months ago.

He shares the floor and the post with another addict, who was sleeping soundly.

Several other addicts and a few men who are reportedly 'crazy' lie
scattered on the floor, shackled either to posts or the verandah wall.

It may appear to be a tough cure for drug addicts but 24-year-old Obi is a
smiling testament to its success.

After eight years of addiction to heroin, he was dragged here by his family
in June, handed over to Ustadz Ridwan, the religious teacher who runs the
mosque, and tied to a post.

'At first, I was really angry and craving it,' said Obi, who now has a
healthy complexion and a solid build which belies his eight-year addiction.

'But after three days, it disappeared,' he said of his craving.

Nevertheless, he spent another 40 days shackled to a post.

He was allowed to get up only when he needed to go to the bathroom.

His day started at 4 am when all the addicts began morning prayers.

'We learn how to strengthen our inner resources with prayer,' he says.

'It's good here, really good and Ustadz Ridwan is a very good man,' he adds.

The shackles are an essential part of the cure, he insisted.

'For sure if they are not tied they'll leave when they want,' he said.

After 40 days, Obi was freed from the chains but helped out cooking and
cleaning around the mosque.

And after three months, he was free to return home but decided to stay back
and help other addicts.

Ustadz Ridwan opened the mosque to addicts and some insane young men in
1995, and has had dozens of addicts cured since then.

Most of the addicts come from poor families who cannot afford to send their
children to expensive clinics.

However, for the 'crazy people', some whom have been tied to the mosque for
two years, there seems little hope of a cure.

Family members prefer to have their relatives committed here, according to
the boys who help around the mosque, because 'in the villages they run
around and become dangerous, but here they keep quiet'.

Some of the cured addicts might return to their past habit, said Obi,
admitting he was unsure how they were faring.

But after their treatment, many return to the mosque on Saturday nights for
lectures and a communal prayer session, he said.

The use of heroin and shabu has been rising rapidly, said anti-drug groups
here.

In 1995, according to the Bali AIDS Eradication Commission, only 100,000
Indonesians used illegal drugs.

But four years later, that number had jumped up to more than a million users.