People who came to government and private OOAT centres to get rid of addiction problem, ended up getting hooked on the very drug prescribed to wean them off habit-forming opium, poppy husk or heroin. A report by Aayush Goel
“Me and my husband met in school. He was into heroin then and got me also hooked. Our parents got to know of our affair and addiction in 2017 and we were married off after being taken to the newly launched OOAT (outpatient opioid assisted treatment) clinic in Kapurthala. We were given our magic pill then and ever since we both have been on BPN 4 mg and it’s part of our weekly grocery list you can say. We no longer go to the clinic but get it from a nearby private centre and get our high. They had said it will stop soon but it didn’t and now it doesn’t matter as we know this will not kill us and we still get our high without our family even knowing about it,” says Japneet Kaur (name changed) a 27-year old housewife from village Chola Sahib, Taran Taran district.
Kaur and her husband Sukhjinder (name changed) are not lone cases but part of around 1 lakh strong brigade of alternate or prescription addicts.
“I have been on pills since 2015 and take them with my diabetes medicine. They at the clinic say I have to take it life long, it will keep me alive and without withdrawals. I sometimes mix it with alcohol and it gives the same high but cheap. People say I am off drugs but I know I am still an addict and you know I want to die sober,” adds 58 years old Teg Singh (name changed) of Mansa.
These are people who went to government or private centres to leave addiction but all thanks to lack of expertise, enforcement, tapering guidelines, staff and psychiatrist crunch, unchecked sale at mushrooming private centres went on get hooked on the very drug that was being used to wean them off habit-forming opium, poppy husk or heroin. The people who have reported this addiction constitute around 17 percent of total registered addicts every year but the number may be way higher owing to the fact that many are not even accepting the same.
OOAT Plan
The drug that was meant only for government-run centres hit an all-time high in 2017 with Congress government’s ambitious OOAT plan.
