REHABILITATION OF DRUG ADDICTS

Rehabilitation is mainly for prisoners convicted for Drug Addiction, Drug Possession or Peddling. the process will help them to move away from Drug Offenses.

The process will effect the rehabilitee in changing his life style and the need to possess social and human values through psychological and spiritual inputs, medical treatment and imparting a vocational training, thereby to develop confidence to start a new and a better life.

The menacing and destructive levels of drug addiction spreading across the country is today becoming a national problem, especially affecting the youth of this country.

This drug scourge, while preying on the lives of the youth of this country, who otherwise would be productive citizens of this land contributing towards the strengthening of the country's economy, has turned them into parasites destroying the country's wealth, leaving behind a generation of sick individuals.

With the aim of destroying this parasitic menace, the government has embarked on a program designed to rescue these youth addicted to drugs and direct them to a rehabilitation program. The government has therefore, handed over the task of rehabilitating these youth to the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation. Accordingly the bureau will in the near future commence a pilot project for the rehabilitation of youth addicted to drugs at a secure residential facility in Kandakadu.

Those selected to undergo this rehabilitation program are those convicted and remanded for drug abuse, drug trading and possession. These individuals will be subjected to the rehabilitation program according to their levels of education, social and economical backgrounds. They will be put through psychological therapy, that will assist them to gradually get rid of their addiction. Through the variation of the environment and a conducive surrounding, and the continued medical therapy, it is expected that these individuals will within the stipulated time frame be able to rid themselves of their addiction.

According to the 2011 statistics, those imprisoned for drug addiction stands at 10,568, and of this figure 6,165 are repeat offenders, which is 58.4%. Those convicted of drug addiction and related offences stands at 66%. These figures clearly indicate that incarceration has had no positive or corrective effect on these offenders, and assist them in becoming productive citizens of the country.

The importance of rehabilitation of these addicts, beyond the system of imprisonment, depends on the following basis.

1. The sole intention of the prisons is not the rehabilitation of these drug addicts.
2. The lack of specifically trained and qualified personnel to conduct the rehabilitation programs.
3. The ability to smuggle drugs into the prisons and the circulation of drugs within the prison among the inmates.
4. Currently around 91% of the prisons are occupied thus hampering the accommodation of other prisoners. Also due to these prisons being situated in populated areas facilitating easy access and the prevalence of drug dealers hovering in the vicinity.
5. Enabling the Dangerous Drugs Authority to provide a more comprehensive service.
6. The ability for the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation to conduct post rehabilitation follow up programs, based on their existing structure.