WHY Maldives (Maldive Islands) have such a heroin problem.....

Why would a nation like the Maldives have a HEROIN problem amid its residents? Why do you think??? This nation USED to be a FISHING nation - whereby grandfathers, fathers & sons (and wives helped to clean the fish) were FISHERMEN. Sometime in the early 1970's Maldives developed "paradise islands" whereby tourists from Europe and all over the world could come - relax, swim, get massages and ENJOY an idyllic tourist life for weeks. VERY few Maldivians were invited to work in this new TOURIST business. MONEY (from tourism) FLOWED into the capital Malé at unbelievable rates - suddenly - with the sharing of tourist funds, EVERYONE was RICH - but BORED - fishing came to a halt - why should anyone FISH for a living when they received tourist money for doing nothing? I visited the Maldives in 1971 - there were NO HOTELS at that time - everyone was engaged in fishing business and very modest (as a Muslim nation) in attire. There were no fancy restaurants/hotels at all - the people were quite "simple" and I mean that in a very GOOD way. NOW??? They (Maldivians) have plenty of money, and nothing at all to do, so they have turned to "brown sugar" (heroin) which comes in by the tons from Sri Lanka and India. There are so FEW rehab places - thus, heroin HITS Maldives, but locals have nowhere to turn to QUIT the habit. It is hard to know WHOM to blame - was it the Prime Minister who developed outer islands for TOURISM? Was it the TOURISTS themselves?? I don't know the answer, but I do know that is EXTREMELY sad to watch what was once an innocent fishing nation turn into a country of heroin addicts who have little or none rehab places: Looking down from the airplane window, the island nation off the coast of India looks idyllic. But don’t let the pristine beaches and turquoise sea fool you. The Maldives have a dark side to them that not many visiting honeymooners get to see. Most of the tourists that arrive at Ibrahim Nasir International airport take a direct boat or private plane to their resort. But to see the other side of the Maldives, all they need to do is take a ten minute boat trip to the country's capital, Male. If the heat allows, you can take a walk around the island in less than an hour. However most locals prefer to use a scooter to get round the island, which is packed with high-rise buildings. Cars only worsen the congestion. Tourists understandably opt for the luxurious resorts for a relaxing holiday. Male has very little to offer them. Brown sugar Even for the locals, the Maldivian capital has few recreational activities to offer. Out of sheer boredom a lot of them resort to drugs. Heroin, or brown sugar as it’s referred to locally, is their drug of choice. According to a UN report, 40 percent of people under the age of 30 use heroin. Once addicted, the tightly-knit community and scarce rehabilitation facilities make it very difficult to beat the addiction. Although cannabis has been around for centuries, heroin was first introduced to the Maldives in the 1970s, when it was imported by Sri Lankan labourers. People knew nothing of the drug and its effects. So when dealers looking for steady customers started handing it out for free, Maldivians got hooked easily. There are now an estimated 30,000 addicts in the Maldives. In densely-populated Male there is an addict in almost every family. Heroin, like the water and idyllic beaches, can be found anywhere in the archipelago. Staying clean Until recently Shiuna Khaleel was a heroin addict “I couldn’t do anything without drugs. I couldn’t wake up, couldn’t have breakfast without vomiting. I had to get high first, that’s how it controlled me” It was her boyfriend that first introduced her to drugs. Against her parents' wishes she married him a few years later. Their relationship revolved around getting high. “My life would have turned out very differently if I had known about the effects of heroin. But the knowledge wasn’t there in the community at that time,” Says Shiuna now. The lack of knowledge is still the main reason why so many youngsters get addicted in the Maldives. Parents live in denial or don’t know how to recognize the signs of addiction. “Recently we are seeing that very young kids, as young as 12 or 13, are peddling heroin in the streets,” says Azmy Achmed. He is the programme coordinator of Journey, an NGO founded by former addicts to reach out to other recovering or active users. Though the group of under aged users is growing, they're hard to reach for Achmed’s NGO. According to the country's strict Islamic laws, children under 18 can’t receive education on sexual health issues or drug use. “Religious scholars don’t believe we should talk to them about these issues, their minds are closed. That’s why we have to adapt our strategies and reach out to the parents instead,” says Azmy Achmed. Rehabilitation and relapse Despite the large number of addicts on the islands, there is only one rehab facility in the Maldives. And like many things here, it has its own island. After a gruelling rehab programme, ex-addicts are sent back to Male without any aftercare. Back home it’s almost impossible to stay away from friends and creditors from their time as an addict. This makes staying clean extremely difficult. “I myself have relapsed eight times,” says Azmy with a faint smile. And he is no exception. “If you just go out to get groceries you’ll bump into an old friend who will offer you drugs. You have to be very strong to stay clean here” After ending her marriage to her addicted husband, Shiuna too went through the painful cycle of rehabilitation and relapse. It took her ten attempts, but now she’s successfully taking part in Journey’s methadone programme. “I was 33 years old, had no husband and couldn’t take care of my own two children. I was done with feeling like a failure,” she says.