Narcotics Anonymous: Addicts helping addicts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It's Wednesday evening again. Outside a small
\nhospital in South Jakarta, 12 recovering drug addicts come
\ntogether for a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting.<\/p>\n
Enthusiasm for the meeting to start is obvious.<\/p>\n
They know that once they step into the meeting room, they can
\nleave their masks at the door. They know they are in a place
\nwhere they are accepted for who they are and for the promise of
\nwho they can become. They know everyone is there for the same
\npurpose, which is to achieve a clean and sober life, free from
\ndrugs.<\/p>\n
No one is interested in judging them, no one points accusing
\nfingers at them. They can just simply be themselves. They can
\nspeak \"junkie talk\", a language of the heart, shared solely by
\nthe community of addicts across the globe. An addict knows the
\nheart, the mind and the soul of an addict, and the one day at a
\ntime daily struggle of maintaining sobriety.<\/p>\n
As the meeting starts members begin to share their current
\nproblems, thoughts, feelings, happiness, sadness and everything
\nelse under the sun related to their personal recovery. They trust
\nthat what they share will be kept anonymous and confidential. No
\none will reveal their names in public. It is not important who
\ntheir parents are. NA members only care that the addicts who
\nattend these meetings want to live their lives clean and sober,
\nand are willing to do what it takes to ensure success.<\/p>\n
How much does NA mean to them?<\/p>\n
\"A lot!\" says Bono, 24. \"Seven months ago, I was a raging
\naddict. NA helped me accept my disease of addiction. I did not
\nknow how to stop using on my own. I went to various hospitals for
\nhelp. It did not work. They gave me more drugs for sleeping,
\npain, headaches, for everything. It zonked me out, more than
\nanything.<\/p>\n
\"They don't understand I have a problem with drugs. I used the
\ndrugs they gave me along with putauw (low-grade heroin) to get me
\nhigh. NA makes me think, stop playing my junkie games, one day at
\na time. And it's free! It's hard to believe I am where I am
\ntoday. My brothers in NA have been very supportive. I am grateful
\nfor my life today.\"<\/p>\n
While Randy, 25, who stopped using on his own said, \"I had not
\nhad a drink or drug in two years and my life didn't get any
\nbetter. I've been in NA a month and a half and I feel so much
\nbetter! It's truly a miracle. They make me feel and think and
\nshare!\"<\/p>\n
NA was founded in 1953 as a program by addicts and for
\naddicts. It is fairly new in Indonesia and was until the present,
\nlimited to the Jakarta area. Yet, NA is gaining rapid popularity
\nfrom many addicts wanting to stay clean and sober and recover
\nfrom a destructive lifestyle that hurts themselves and other
\npeople around them. Many have destroyed their entire households
\nphysically and emotionally. Stealing, lying, cheating, violence
\nand other destructive behavior often come included in the package
\nof the addiction nightmare.<\/p>\n
Several expatriate teenagers attempting to treat problems
\nassociated with putauw use started the first NA meeting in
\nJakarta on April 1, 1997, with the help of a senior NA member. NA
\nhas several meetings weekly now, two of which are held in Bahasa
\nIndonesia. Approximately 20 to 30 young Indonesian men and women
\nattend these NA meetings regularly. They attend NA through their
\nown free will, usually after talking to an NA member and hearing
\nabout how others are staying clean and sober through NA.<\/p>\n
In NA, members confront their difficulties in staying clean
\nand sober. Kevin, 25, has been in the NA program for seven months
\nnow. \"I bumped into a junkie friend yesterday who used to shoot
\nputauw with me. My heart missed a beat. We exchanged
\npleasantries. I did not dare to ask whether he was still using.
\nThank God he did not ask me if I was. He looked awful. I could
\nnot relate to him anymore. It's like being in a different world
\ninside!\"<\/p>\n
Programs like NA do make a difference. That is why NA may well
\nbecome Indonesia's leading program for continued recovery, as the
\nnumber of addicts are increasing and drug arrests are becoming
\npart of our daily news.<\/p>\n
NA has been very successful in preventing reformed drug user
\nrelapse, and provides ongoing support and aftercare toward a
\nlasting recovery for addicts. However, you need to be a member to
\nappreciate the difference NA can make in an addict's life. NA,
\nlike Alcoholics Anonymous, confronts addiction from inside the
\nheart and mind of an addict. The group has the experience and
\nknowledge to face the coming challenges and hardship addiction
\nbrings to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Yet many local health care professionals working in the area
\nof addiction have yet to learn the wisdom of AA and NA. Some
\naddicts were of the opinion that some so-called professionals in
\nIndonesia are keeping addicts addicted for their own personal
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
The Coordinating Board for the Implementation of Presidential
\nInstruction No. 6 of 1971 reported that the total victims of drug
\naddiction in Indonesia averaged 130,000 people annually. Research
\nin 1998 by Prof. Dr. Hawari indicates this figure has increased
\ntenfold to over 1.3 million addicts, 17.16 percent of which have
\ndied of an overdose or from drug related problems -- a total of
\n223,000.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Fatmawati Drug Dependency Hospital has reported
\nthat the number of drug addicts presenting at the hospital has
\nincreased from 1,500 in 1996, to 4,000 in only the first five
\nmonths of 1999. This number could easily jump beyond 5,000 by the
\nend of the year.<\/p>\n
Fivefold<\/p>\n
Minister of Social Services Yustika S. Baharsyah, in the
\nlaunching of the Karang Taruna National Anti-Drug Task Force in
\nEast Jakarta on June 23, indicated that the market for drugs has
\nincreased more than four to fivefold compared with last year. He
\nalso stated that drug abuse had spread to all strata of the
\nIndonesian community, including elementary schools and Muslim
\nboarding schools (Pesantrens).<\/p>\n
He is right. Many have been lured into using ecstasy, putauw,
\nand shabu-shabu (methampethamine), all currently popular drugs.
\nThe young and old, students, executives and housewives are told
\nby dealers that using shabu-shabu will help them lose weight and
\ngain more energy, and that shabu-shabu can cure putauw addiction
\nbecause it is not as addictive. Let us get this straight. Shabu-
\nshabu is highly addictive and creates paranoia over a period of
\nuse.<\/p>\n
In some countries such as the USA the police, judicial systems
\nand courts now regularly compel individuals convicted of specific
\noffenses under the influence of drugs and alcohol, to attend AA
\nand NA meetings. These offenses include carrying illegal drugs,
\ndrunk driving, domestic violence, and other violations directly
\ninvolving alcohol and drugs. AA and NA also hold meetings and
\nbring their messages of recovery into hospitals, institutions,
\njails and prisons.<\/p>\n
Both AA and NA are very effective in these institutional and
\nconfined settings when it comes to helping addicts. These
\nprograms certainly reduce the social cost resulting from crime
\nconnected with alcohol and drug abuse, estimated to cost over
\nUS$57 billion annually in the USA.<\/p>\n
There are many men and women in jails and prisons today for
\ncriminal offenses directly related to drugs in Indonesia.
\nHowever, we may have to wait several years before AA and NA may
\nbe allowed in jails and prisons here in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Yet many people outside NA and AA misunderstand these groups.
\nSome question whether addicts can actually help other addicts.<\/p>\n
George, 57, a American senior member of AA from Jakarta
\nshared, \"I have been clean and sober since 1972. I would have
\ndied on skid row if there was no AA. I am grateful each day for
\nmy sobriety. The NA program has the blueprint for happy living
\nwithout any drugs. It is too bad our drug oriented societies
\ncan't or won't see that.\".(Joyce\/David Djaelani Gordon)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/narcotics-anonymous-addicts-helping-addicts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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