The Hindu : New Delhi News : Spotlight on societal effects of drug abuse

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Spotlight on societal effects of drug abuse

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: As documentaries go, "Navjyoti - Changing Lives: Treating and Rehabilitating Drug Dependents'' is different. Though the subject matter is the social malaise of our times - drug abuse - the producers explore the ramifications of addiction both in the social and personal context.

The hour-long film screened at American Centre here on Monday chronicles the human aspects and societal effects of drug abuse by presenting the stories of a group of addicts from the perspective of the doctors and social workers who attempt to relieve addicts of their expensive and destructive habit.

Produced by the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation (NDPF) with a grant from the U.S., the film focuses on Navjyoti, an organisation established by Dr. Kiran Bedi to help people overcome their addictions. Noting the U.S. Charge d' Affaires, Robert Blake's, comment "that no country has the monopoly on social and medical problems such as substance abuse and HIV/AIDS'', Dr. Bedi responded: "My thanks go to the Japanese, Dutch and Americans for giving us the money to build the centre, an American benefactor of Indian origin who donated all we needed to buy the site and of course all my fellow officers and the Government who work and subsidies us.''

Based on a philosophy of self-motivation, patients at Navjyoti are enrolled for a six-month programme upon passing strict physical and psychological tests designed to ascertain whether the patient truly wants to kick whatever habit is slowly ruining their life.

Self-motivation is a key requirement because the organisation unlike other drug rehabilitation centres does not rely on replacement therapies or allopathic medication to help the abuser deal with the painful and psychological traumas that are covered by the blanket term "withdrawal symptoms''.

For a programme that emphasises the role of the family in helping the patient recover, Navjyoti surprisingly does not permit patients any family contact whatsoever during the first month. This is done to both protect the family from the trauma of "withdrawal symptoms'' and because the workers at the centre are trained and experienced in helping patients cope. In fact, many of the councillors are former patients themselves and therefore possess the first hand knowledge that is the prerogative of the initiated.

If patients make it through the first month, they spend the next five months under the strict supervision of councillors, living a regimen designed to help them deal with their individual demons be they mental or physical.

Upon completing six months at Navjyoti, patients are free to leave the centre. However, they are not left to their own devices or at the mercy of recurring cravings.

Instead Navjyoti provides a follow-up service of periodic supervision designed to keep reformed addicts on the path of a clean and healthy lifestyle that they have earned.

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