DRUG addiction is like a roller-coaster ride into hell. It launches addicts into an orbit of illusions and of false euphoria and then plunges them back into the cold abyss of reality. When the “joyride” comes to a halt, it is replaced by withdrawal symptoms that often lead to disruptive behaviour. For example, addicts will experience extreme anxiety, restlessness, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, cramps, violent kicking and insomnia.
Despite continuous efforts by the country’s 28 government rehabilitation centres to nip drug addiction in the bud, this social menace is becoming a garden of weed. In the first quarter of 2003 alone, there were 13,519 drug addicts recorded in the country. Of that number, 48.6% were relapse cases. Statistics from the National Drug Agency showed that heroin users total 5,162, which is the highest tally among the different substance abuse users.
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