Tihar tackles drug abuse with peer pressure

Convicted for life on charges of murder he amazes visitors and staff at Tihar's de-addiction centre with his sheer understanding of the normal functioning of the brain and impact of drugs over it. 29-year-old Prakash is one amongst the 100 peer facilitators trained under the first-ever prevention drive active here against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

"Earlier, I used to feel helpless when the worst cases of drug abuse used to come up for treatment at the de-addiction centre. However, now I am capable of differentiating the intensity of one patient from another and counselling him accordingly," says Prakash, who has been working at the centre for the past four years.

Another inmate, a 23-year-old undertrial in a robbery case from North-East, Jagan, admits to occasionally taking drugs in order to kill stress.

"However, after attending the counselling sessions under the drive, whenever I feel stressed, I question myself -Do I really need drugs? and, the answer is no," he says.

Included as a regular feature in the prisoners' reformation activities of the largest jail in the country, the drive aims at the higher level of awareness among inmates on the risk of drug abuse and tools of its prevention, along with improved capacity of prison and NGO staff in dealing with the menace.

With a strong belief in "Prevention is better that the cure," the authorities have joined hands with an NGO Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan, to arrest the problem of drug abuse in non-user population of the prison inmates, right at the level of 'Gateway Drugs' (like tobacco, cigarettes).

"After the training session, I have realised that drugs have a psychological impact on the user. I tried to learn through the experiences of my fellow inmates in this regard. When I saw them craving for the drugs I prepared small black tablets from the incense cones and to my surprise, the inmates felt the same psychological relief as they felt after inhaling drugs," says Jaswant, a convict for seven years under a case of domestic violence.

Sources say inmates use code language for the drugs. "A small quantity of charas is 'cheeta', 'Dum' is the code for ganja and tobacco is simply known as 'pudiya'," they say.

"Those caught in the cases of drug-peddling keep their business alive even behind the bars. Even though non-users are lodged in a separate jail inside the prisons, peddlers manage to reach them somehow. So, the drive would empower such non-users to say no to the first use of the drugs," says a jail official on the condition of anonymity.

The Annual Review of Delhi Prisons says almost ten per cent of the prison population is addicted to some type of drug. These ten per cent dependents are lodged in drug treatment cells.  Out of the non-user population as many as 55 per cent to 60 per cent of the inmates get introduced to drugs in jail and develop subsequent addiction.

Swami Vishalanand, spokesperson of the NGO working for reformation and rehabilitation of prison inmates says, "Drugs are increasingly becoming an easy escape route from jail-term related psychological issues for the prisoners. The need of the hour is to check its spread as it impacts the reformation process of inmates and chances remain high of them not getting out of the world of crime."

Under the drive, over 50 prison inmates from two jail have been educated by the organisation in the form of peer facilitators.  This group of inmates have been sensitised over the reasons for the spread of drug abuse in their vicinity and the measures to arrest the issue.

"Life skill training and expertise in handling risk situations have been imparted to the prisoners during individual counselling sessions. The group of trained peers would help encourage other inmates to not to fall in the trap of drugs," he adds.

To tackle the problem, various psychological tools in combination with spiritual tools are employed to help create and sustain positive changes in the thought process of the prison inmates.

"Tools like Vilakshan yoga being employed under the drive not only detoxify the mind and body of the inmates but also help them think positive to restart a new life out of the shackles of crime," says Neeraj Kumar, Director General (Tihar Prisons).

Camps would also be organised to generate awareness about health practices and personal hygiene during the drive with the assistance of National Seeds Corporation.

"To keep the inmates busy in reformation activities and to prevent them from diverting their minds towards drugs, a number of recreational activities like music, dance and painting classes are also being run inside the jail premises," says Vishalanand.

The three-month pilot project of the prevention drive concludes this week.