7.

How extensive is the drug culture in Bangladesh and what are the reasons behind its
rise? Is this rise influenced by class and if so why / If not, also explain?

Drug addiction is not a recent problem in Bangladesh but in recent years drug addiction has
significantly increased in Bangladesh. This agent of human devastation has extend its tentacles
worldwide and also in our country. Every intelligent and humane person in the world, society
and international organizations such as the UN and WHO are worried by the present rate of
addiction. Drugs were used by primitive people in religious festivals to combat or naturalize
various taboos. Throughout the ages significant numbers of substances which were used to treats
disease but only a few of these substances had only direct influences on the sign of disease.
The word addiction means getting habituated with something. In case of drugs when a human
body gets dependent on some stimulating things, and after a certain period it creates a habit
which means that the body has become dependent on the stimulant which is addiction. World
Health Organization (WHO) defines ‘drug as a chemical substance of synthetic, semi synthetic
or natural origin intended for diagnostic, therapeutic or palliative use or for modifying
physiological functions of man and animal.
Drug addiction does not just affect the addict; it has a far reaching effect which encompasses
family, friends, employers, healthcare professionals and society as a whole. Violence is an
extreme form of aggression, such as assault, rape or murder. Drug abuse is a dreadful threat in
the society with biological, social, financial, psychological and security effect on the individuals,
families and the community. The widespread abuse of drugs has become a human tragedy. In
Bangladesh about 80 percent of the drug addicts are adolescents and young men of 15 to 30
years of age. Drug abuse is now prevalent everywhere in the house, streets, in the workplace,
parks, slums, markets and even in educational institutions both in rural and urban areas. Virtually
all segments of society are severely affected by this problem and about 25 lakh people are drug
addicted in our country.
Alcohol and other drugs abuse may act on brain mechanisms that cause a high-risk individual
to engage in aggressive and violent behavior. Individuals with costly heroin or cocaine habits
may commit violent crimes in order to secure the resources for further drug purchases. Narcotic
drug dealers, but not alcohol vendors, practice their trade in a violent manner. Alcohol, narcotics,
hallucinogens, and psychomotor stimulants differ substantially from each other and in the way
that they are related to different kinds of violent and aggressive behavior.
Drug abuse straightly influences the economic and social aspects of a country. In Bangladesh
it is a growing national concern because there are millions of drug-addicted people in
Bangladesh and most of them are young, between the ages of 18 and 30 years. Rising public
concern about drug use in the late 1980s was called a drug "panic" or "scare". This phenomenon
has not been born over night but rather has been building up throughout the 1980s, and finally
exploded in the late 1985 and early in 1986. The special public concern was targeted on cocaine,
more specifically, crack, a cocaine derivative. Drug use in general became a crucial social
problem of the decade. In this very decade the drug issue has occupied million’s of minds and
emerged as a huge social problem during those times the concept "tougher on crimes" became
widely used in society for the reasons of drug frenzy in the country, the government intentions
were to establish such harsh laws which would scare criminals and make them think twice before
committing a crime, of using or selling drugs. It is believed that with the increasing quantity of
the products, more and more people are likely to get involved in drug business. In this way it
ultimately contributes to the number of drug abusers as well. To get hold of money for buying
drugs, addict make himself associate of criminal group and commit crimes. In a statistics it is
shown that among 253 drug abusers 31% is addicted to cannabis, 26% to alcohol, 24% to
phensidyl, 10% to heroin and 9% to diazepam, antihistamine, methamphetamine etc. The
prevalence of drug abusers among male is twenty times than female abusers and about three-fifth
(58%) of the addicts is between 18 to 35 years age. It is not only the youth; drug addiction has
also grabbed the social leaders. Even the teachers and physicians who are supposed to guide the
society are more or less getting drug addicted. Drug abuse affects the whole society, in a border
perspective, it also hampers the social development.
There are several reasons behind drug culture in our country. Reasons are given below:
Genetic/Inherited: We are all a product of our parents. If your parents have addiction struggles,
chances are you are more susceptible to addiction. That is, why drug abuse is more common in
some families than in others. If your parents smoke, chances are good you will smoke. If your
parents used alcohol, probably follow and use that drug in much the same way. If your father
was an alcoholic, you have a predisposition to abusing that drug. Drug abuse causes one
generation to pass it on to the next.
Personality: Aside from the inherited factors, some people have a personality that is more likely
to become drug dependent. People are curious, so that alone can lead a person to try a drug. We
experiment and see what happens. We are looking to relax and have pleasure. We all want to feel
good, and we are by nature impatient. Drugs give us an instant gratification that other things do
not, so for that moment or hour of for whatever timeframe, we feel good. We want what we
want. Someone diagnosed with depression, attention deficit disorder, or hyperactivity. Maybe
there has been some stress, or anxiety in their life. Whatever the case, these are contributing
factors. Even some common personality characteristics, such as aggression, may be a factor.
Children who do not have confidence, healthy self-esteem may be prone to turning to drugs to
fill the void. Drug abuse causes negative changes in personality that can lead to an even more
destructive behavior.
Peer Pressure/Social: We are all wired to have relationships, and sometimes those relationships
cause us to give in to something we otherwise would avoid in order to maintain the relationship.
Peer pressure is huge and nowhere is this greater than during our teenaged years. Kids want to be
cool. It begins as a social action, to take the drugs to be a part of the group, to be accepted. It’s
not just teenagers, as peer pressure takes so many different forms. There is social etiquette, for
example, to take a drink during a party. “I’m a social drinker.” How many times have you heard
that? Some people actually believe that drug abuse causes you to be accepted and part of the
'popular' group.
Easy Access: If one wants to get drugs, he or she will not have to look far because they are
everywhere. High school students can tell you this. Drug abuse causes people to sell drugs to the
most vulnerable population, children. It is not just the stereotypical poor sections of the inner city
that serve as the hotbed for drugs. Drugs are found in suburban shopping malls, rural schools,
and well-to-do private school, on the job in factories, offices and remote job sites.
Race, Ethnicity: We include this heading because we want to stress that there is no data to
support any claim that one race of people or any particular cultural group is more prone to drug
abuse than another. Drug abuse is a human problem and crosses all boundaries. Drug abuse
causes do not include race.
Loneliness, Depression: We want to feel good physically and emotionally. Sometimes drugs are
the substitution for a healthy life experience. The person in pain and they want to numb the pain.
The drug numbs the pain and for a moment, they do not feel as poorly. The person needs to
escape the pain of the life experience, and for a short while, the drug takes them away and they
feel better.
Anxiety: Sometimes people need some help coping with life. Everyday life becomes a struggle
and simple things become too much to handle. Drugs are used to deal with it. In the case of
addiction, we are not talking about the use of medication, under the care and observation of a
doctor. People who have been clinically diagnosed with anxiety can lead a very good life. We’re
talking here about people who just need to escape. Their drug of choice facilitates that escape.
In my opinion class is obviously influencing drug culture. If we look at some statistics we
will be sure about that.
Table no.1
Mostly Infected Area Total Percentage (%)
Urban 68 58.1
Rural 21 17.9
Equal in both area 28 23.9
Table no.2
Education Total Percentage (%)
Illiterate 63 53.8

Educated 19 16.2
Equal both illiterate and educated 35 29.2
Table no.3
Socio-economic class Total Percentage (%)
Poor class 40 34.2
Middle class 56 47.9
Upper class 21 17.9
Table no.4
Occupational Status Total Percentage (%)
Farmer 10 6.7
Day Labor 19 12.7

Housewife 5 3.3
Doctor 5 3.3
Students 36 24.0
Teacher 10 6.7
Trader 30 20.0

Table no.1, 2 and 3 is talking about how people concern about drug. Table 1 represents that
among 117 respondents who had knowledge about the impact of drug addiction 58.1 percent
believed urban area is as the mostly affected by drug addiction and only 17.9 percent said rural
area is the mostly affected. This study was conducted in the urban area as a result most of the
respondents were the inhabitants of urban area and they had knowledge about urban problem like
drug addiction. So, they stated that urban areas are mostly affected by drug addiction. Table 2
articulates that 53.8 percent respondents stated that illiterate people become more addicted on the
other hand 16.2 percent said educated people become more addicted. Table 3talks that the
highest number of the respondents (47.9%) said that the addicted people belong to the middle
class (monthly income 5000-15000 taka) and the lowest 17.9 percent respondents stated that the
addicted people belong to upper class (monthly income above 15000 taka). Table 4 discusses in
which profession people takes drugs.
Drugs are tearing apart our societies, increasing crime, spreading diseases such as AIDS, and
killing our youth and our future. Drug addiction has grabbed not only the youth but also the
whole society. In the developing country likes Bangladesh, incidence of drug addiction is
increasing day by day. It was a problem of developed country beforehand but now it is one of the
important social problems of our country trapped by this addiction and it will affects the future of
our country. It is spreading like mushroom and invading the every level of our society like home,
educational institution and affecting individual of all classes. Findings show that drug addiction
rapidly decreases the educational, cultural, moral and family values. The people who take drugs
most of them are young and due to taking regular drugs, they lose their productivity. The addicts
lose their professional and educational capabilities, self-dignity, and get involved in serious or
petty criminal activities. The drug addicted youth drops out from the school/college or university
education, service holder loses his job because of irregularities. Drug addicts become involved in
various anti-social activities to earn money and their deviant behavior causes many problems in
our daily life and appears as obstacles to our socio-economic and cultural growth and
development. Findings explain that knowledge about drug addiction is closely related with
educational status of the respondents. Educated people are well informed about the impacts of
drug addiction. So, it is our moral and social responsibility to rectify the drug addicts and bring
them back from life killing habit and deviant behavior to normal life and rehabilitate them in
society as productive ones.

References
Feroz, R. A. (2012, 7 September). Drug abuse in Bangladesh. The News Today (enewspaper)
GoB. (2007). Voter List of Bangladesh. Election Commission, Khulna
Hasan, M. (2012, 31 March). Drug addiction in Bangladesh. Bdnews 24 (e-newspaper)
<Source url：http://alternative2111.blogspot.com/2011/01/drug-abuse-and-condition-of-
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