Seven or eight years ago when I first saw this drug, it hardly appeared to be capable of doing serious harm. It was pink! Obviously, each colour creates in our subconscious mind an image, so pink hardly conjures up devastation.
Yet today, the capital as well as all major towns are hostage to the pink pill. Reportedly, when it comes to “pinik” or high, nothing comes near. Going back to 2007, yaba was a “designer product” with hardly any information available about it. To give its usage legitimacy, the fact that Hitler’s soldiers were given the tablet to stay awake during prolonged wars, was widely used.
Nothing was spelt of the harmful sides. In Dhaka’s elite areas, the rise of abuse rose when it was found to be a powerful libido and stamina enhancer. That means one could be at it all night long and also carry on with normal work the next day, or the day after.
Recently, a report caught my attention – yaba is delivered at home by smart, well-spoken couriers.
I am not shocked.
I heard of such a system seven years ago where cycle-riding men threw tablets packed in plastic onto the verandah of users. Someone told me that for clients living in higher level flats, ropes were used to send up the tablets.
Lovers addicted to the product and staying in the same apartment building use the same rope system to share a high – reportedly, pink pills were wrapped in a love letter and tied to the rope.
Talk about romancing on the deadly side.
But laughs aside, yaba is now the top drug in major cities, slowly but treacherously making way into rural areas. The selling line is perhaps as old as human civilisation – take it and be the king in bed.
Most fall for this because the desire to be the ultimate lover lies dormant in all.
Interestingly though, in the initial days of abuse, sexual urge may see a surge, the nerves soon become numb, unable to feel anything in the latter days of addiction. Meanwhile, continuous nights of sleeplessness wreak havoc on health, creating pressure on kidneys on the side.
But what many people do not know is that regular use of this makes a person short-tempered, morose, and desperate.
If we refer to the killing of a police officer and his wife by their yaba addict daughter last year, we see to what level of crime yaba-induced recklessness can trigger.
But beyond the surface of common drug related social problems lies a festering lower level where yaba is viciously acting out as the main catalyst in stripping society, especially women, of moral values.
Let’s shed the pseudo façade of morality for a minute: Prostitution had always been present around us, though kept under wraps through a carefully crafted air of discretion.
Women working as sex workers mostly resided within a recognised quarter and lived almost their entire lives within a boundary. Not going into the argument of whether that is ethically right or not, brothels have followed this pattern for ages with little alterations here and there.
However, as we became engulfed by consumerism and hard-core material values, the issue of paid sex insidiously crept out of a centuries old boundary to carve out a place within mainstream society, luring a large number of young women from the middle and the lower middle classes.
These women have become carriers, sellers, and dealers of yaba, operating within the secure environment of five-star establishments, exploiting the safety offered by affluent commercial places to peddle drugs.
From time to time, we hear of law enforcers busting yaba syndicates, though the main masterminds are never nabbed while top entertainment centres remain outside the dragnet.
The solution to regulate the trade is simple – infiltrate the entertainment industry to terminate insulated lines of the trade.
It won’t be surprising to find many ostensibly “clean” people involved.
Just to give a personal anecdote – a few years ago, I was having a conversation with a rising model/actress and at one point she bluntly asked if she and her friends can come over and use my place to take Baba (as yaba is commonly known).
Having observed International Women’s Day and acknowledging wholeheartedly the strides women have made in the last two decades, the murky side of gender empowerment, where many opt to dive into the world of crime to get rich quick, cannot be overlooked.
These women, armed with their beauty and charm, prowl the Dhaka night spots with the sole aim of entrapping new victims either in their web of physical allure or within the confines of the pink pill. In some cases, victims fall for both …
If asked about the prospect of a reformed life, some will quickly put up an act of a martyr while the scarred ones will reject such a proposition outright.
Sorry for sounding unrefined: For them, it’s about making money which they seem to enjoy. Usually, talks about a straight life bore them.
Perhaps, one side of the vice can be overlooked, though yaba tolerance is not the one. Law enforcers have recognised the need to curtail this trade with the Bangladesh government making an official plea to Myanmar to take steps to crack down on yaba factories near the border.
However, taking a lesson from the drug of rage in the 80s and 90s, Phensidyl, which came relentlessly from the other side of the border with India despite countless futile appeals made from Bangladesh, expectations of cooperation from Myanmar should be realistic.
If there is genuine desire to control yaba, the inner layers of the scourge need to be addressed, which means of course, baring a lot of unsavoury facts about society.
Yes, many so-called closely held stereotypical beliefs will crumble, proving us to be just as decadent as many others.
The question is – do we carry on pretending as if nothing is amiss or, do we take a bold step and address a facet of the yaba menace which has been kept at bay?
Source: Dhaka Tribune
