Kathmandu, January 15:

“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I have done it thousand times,” Mark Twain once said. Drug- abusers struggling to get out of the addiction find themselves in a similar situation.

Addicts say to get out of the addiction completely they should have employment to pass time, social trust and proper family care once they are discharged from rehabilitation centres. However, experts say addiction is a psychological disease and self determination of drug addicts is vital to stop relapsing into drugs.

Experts say at least 60 per cent of drug addicts relapse into drugs after being discharged from rehabilitation centres. The desire for momentary ‘solace’ leads them to far worse than they could have thought. The reasons are many — love tragedy, discrimination, social unacceptability and unemployment, while others attribute it to poor sexual performance. Whatever the reason, experts say relapse is a process that starts within.

“They resist up to a certain point and get back to the same circle. They get hooked again, making excuses,” said Bijay Pandey, director of Youth Vision — an organisation working for drug users. “After quitting drugs, I missed my friends and the fun,” says Deepak Shrestha (name changed for obvious reasons), an addict, who relapsed into drugs more than 12 times.

Drug users’ life revolves around hunting for drugs, refraining and recovering from it; and, again going back to the same circle. Their crusade to lead a normal life persists despite failing several times.

Once an addict is discharged from hospital, social environment should be made conducive for them to adjust in the society, Dr Saroja Raj Ojha, psychiatrist at TU Teaching Hospital said, adding that parallel growth of social life is equally important to stop them from relapsing. “Counselling and closely monitoring, besides giving a limited dose of drugs to addicts can be a solution,” he said.

The Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programme under Psychiatry and Mental Health Department of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital is a collaborative programme of Home Ministry, the TUTH and the United Nations Office of Drug Control, launched two months back, tries to do just that.

Twenty-nine-year-old Raju Karki (name changed), who is undertaking a drug substitution therapy under the MMPT, said. “Life now follows a routine. I get the medicine on time under the supervision of doctors.” Karki seems determined to give up drugs. “I started this therapy with 40mg of methadone, the dosage has been reduced to 25 mg over two months. But the fear remains that I might get hooked again.”

The MMTP is providing the service to 100 drug addicts selected on the basis of their past and severity of their addiction. Of them, 50 per cent are HIV positive, including a female.