Pubdate: Tue, 01 Mar 2016 Source: Star, The (Malaysia) Copyright: 2016 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. Contact: http://www.thestar.com.my Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/922 Author: Mohamad 'Ariff Fahmi Note: Pertubuhan Amal Perubatan Ibnu Sina Malaysia (Papisma) DEALING WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE WE read with great concern a motion mooted in the Youth Parliament surrounding the decriminalisation of "ganja" usage. While we do believe there is a need for an enlightened discussion in the public domain regarding substance abuse and addiction, perhaps the idea of legalising or regulating marijuana in Malaysia, in the name of TPPA, is impulsive. Instead we would like to invite the public to explore the concept of substance abuse and addiction in order to grasp the essence of the issue and take necessary precautions to address them. We feel obliged to share an insightful presentation by Johann Hari, a British journalist whose TEDtalk in London in June last year was one of the most popular TEDTalks in 2015. He started by reminding the audience that it was exactly a century ago that the United States and Britain declared a war on drugs. Yet, a few decades later, he recalled his childhood memory trying to wake up a relative who was found unconscious under the influence of illicit drugs, which apparently ran in his family. He started to reflect on the basic questions surrounding drug abuse and addiction only to realise that maybe everything he ever understood about addiction prior to that was simply wrong. Throughout his journey to unearth the mystery, he discovered that the underlying problem with addiction is connection. We identify ourselves as normal functioning human beings because we can connect ourselves to families, friends and colleagues by various means of communication. These connections give meaning to life be it in the form of happiness or suffering. Thus, what drives addiction is when these connections are severed. Hari illustrated his encounter with Prof Bruce Alexander in Vancouver who conducted an interesting experiment on mice. He simulated a theme park in the cage where mice could choose to either be on drugs or play. Remarkably with the "Rat Park", those mice went from "junkie" to 100% clean without an overdose once they were happy and connected to their surrounding. This shows that our physical presence and emotional touch is stronger than any drug. It also explains why inpatients on prolonged drugs like painkillers do not leave the hospital becoming drug addicts in the community. Our innate need to bond will naturally prevail and choose interaction with human beings over chemicals which only provide temporary relief accompanied by withdrawal symptoms and side effects. Of course to be fair to the motion brought up at the Youth Parliament, Portugal is the role model where drugs are decriminalised; effectively lowering the crime rate, HIV and drug addiction cases. In 2000, Portugal was facing an epidemic of addiction where one percent of the population were drug addicts. The government established a taskforce to look into the matter and took a bold step to reallocate a significant amount of funds and organised an initiative to help drug addicts reconnect with their family and friends. There was massive jobs creation for addicts and loans were provided for them to start small businesses. So, this is not just about legalising marijuana to be on par with other TPPA nation, neither it is about building more hospitals or institutions to treat drug addicts. It is about building and maintaining the fabric of human connection. It is about sharing the responsibilities in a cohesive community to free drug addicts from stigmatisation, to allow them to reconnect with themselves and the surroundings. To a certain extent, we are already witnessing the many faces of addiction ruining every walk of life. Hence, it is only appropriate to reiterate the crucial element that holds us together as a person, a family, a community and a nation. It is the connection. Connection with God and His creation. This is the first part, before we dare to speak about anything else beyond that. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom