Pubdate: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 Source: The Daily Star (Bangladesh) Copyright: 2005 The Daily Star Contact: http://www.thedailystar.net Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3893 Author: Kausar Islam Ayon YABA, THE NEW DANGER PILL Youngsters Getting Attracted Because Of Cheap Price Use of yaba, a drug of the morphine group, has seen an alarming rise in recent times. With the reduction of its price and easy availability, young people are getting drawn to it. "When it first arrived in the market in 1999, each pill had cost Tk 1500. Now it is available at Tk 300 so we prefer it more," said Sayeed, a regular user of yaba. He also informed that nowadays yaba was available at almost every part of the city. "Initially it was available at only two or three specific spots in Gulshan and Baridhara. Now one can even get it delivered at home by ordering over the phone," added Sayeed. Yaba is believed to have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar and Thailand and the number of addicts is increasing day by day. "A number of phensydyl and brown sugar addicts are now getting used to yaba as it gives a flying sensation and is much better in taste," said a yaba dealer. Yaba is a red pill with chocolate flavour and is inhaled in the same way brown sugar is taken from foil paper. The users claim it energises them. Although most of the addicts are between the ages of 18 and 30, yaba is also popular among older people as it supposedly enhances sexual desire and performance, claimed sellers of the drug. Dealers say that women have been one of the major customers of Yaba from the very beginning. A student of a private university said she first tasted the drug with her boyfriend who was also an addict. "He first told me that it tasted like chocolate and was very smooth. We took it together to enjoy our physical relation and got addicted to it since," said the girl. Doctor and drug specialists caution that yaba is extremely harmful for lever as it completely destroys appetite. "It also creates pressure on the heart and people with weak hearts are always facing the threat of a cardiac arrest if they take it regularly," said Prof. Dr. S A M Golam Kibria, chairman, Department of Urology at Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. Meanwhile, the Department of Narcotics Control apparently can do nothing to stop the spread of yaba. "The main problem in apprehending the sellers of yaba. They are very alert and never sell the drug to unknown people. We have recently arrested a number of sellers and we are hopeful they will provide us with information to trace the root," said Hafizur Rahman, deputy director of the department. Police officials said that they struggle to arrest yaba dealers as they carry a very small amount of the drug with them which they can hide easily. "It is very difficult to catch them with routine checks. A seller can hide five to ten pills easily inside the wallet or an inner pocket," said a police official. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman