Saturday 16 / November / 2024
Muscat: A convicted drug dealer who once smuggled hard drugs into Oman is now helping young Omanis beat their addictions.
Mohammed, (name changed) ran heroin across the border from Yemen and was caught after a deal went wrong.
He spent time in prison in Oman and is now reformed and helping to run a group that helps young people kick their drug habit.
Mohammed shared his story with Times of Oman in the hope that others might avoid taking the same path.
From hash to heroin or morphine, drug addicts often opt for stronger drugs as a result of experimentation and peer pressure, Mohammed said.
“Drug addicts always start with hashish. When they get into the harder drugs like morphine and heroin, it’s almost always as a result of experimentation. They say they just want to see what it feels like and then get hooked from the first hit,” said Mohammad (name changed to preserve identity), a rehabilitated addict who turned his life around.
“Even though the addicts prefer hashish over other drugs, they need morphine or heroin to relieve them of their pain. It’s easier to get off of hash but not the other drugs,” he added.
Foiled smuggling attempts by authorities are reported often which in turn decreases the amount of narcotics available in the country, however, addicts find ways to get their ‘high’. “Nowadays the authorities are doing a great job busting the smugglers, but most of the time they catch them in possession of hash more than morphine or heroin,” he said.
“We can see it on the news. So a lot of them are addicted to other, harder drugs’,” explained Mohammad.
“If none are available they resort to pills like Tramadol, Xanax, Megadon, just to name a few, for their fix,” he added.
Drug abuse is a first class ticket to a downtrodden life and addicts experience this low form of mental “bliss” for fun until they are caught.
Times of Oman sat one on one exclusively with Mohammad who told us his life story from how he started using drugs to finally realizing that it will do him no good He hopes his story will convince those who are thinking of taking narcotics for pleasure to think again.
“I remember that I used to always sit in the back of the class at school and cause trouble. I sometimes used to throw things at the teachers like slippers, for example. I wanted to show them that I’m tough,” he said.
During the eighth grade he was hanging out with ‘friends’ much older than himself.
“Back then I thought these guys were cool. I wanted to be just like them, so I started bodybuilding and hung out with them often,” said Mohammad.
While in the eighth grade and aged 14, Mohammad had his first cigarette. He would place the cigarette between ice cream sticks so that the smell would not stick to his fingers and chew gum after smoking to avoid any trouble from his parents.
By the twelfth grade (18 years old) that life came true when he smoked his first joint. Hashish was the gateway to far worse things in his life, which he now regrets.
“My ‘friends’ used to tell me that hashish increases confidence level when talking to girls. I wouldn’t think about what to say only that I’m getting results after I say it. I was dating at the time and I thought it could help; but now I know it doesn’t,” he explained.
After ‘enjoying’ his spell with hashish he was introduced to harder drugs, specifically heroin and morphine.
“They said that it will enhance my sexuality but now I know it isn’t true and it was just an implanted thought that I believed,” said Mohammad.
When asked how his relationship with his family during this time was, he said, “My family didn’t want anything to do with me. They saw me in the state that I was and basically cut me off, given the fact that they had tried to keep me away from the bad habits, but failed.”
Mohammad was a user of drugs – hashish, heroin and morphine. He used to smoke and sniff, but he is “thankful that I did not reach the point of injecting myself”.
During the 90’s Mohammad got into the drug trade and started peddling morphine and hashish.
“In the mid-90’s, I used to smuggle 12-20 kilograms of hashish across the border from Yemen and sell them on my way home. Back then you could get away with anything and I was never caught; security wasn’t as tight as it is today,” Mohammad said.
“Some years later, one day I was trying to sell drugs to a buyer, but the CID were monitoring him and his phone and arrested him. One of the officers then looked through his phone and saw that we were making a deal. The officer took over the conversation as if he were the man I was talking to and found out where I was,” continued Mohammad.
Mohammad explained that was the first time he was arrested and said that “it felt like a nightmare”.
He was imprisoned for 55 days and explained that it was the worst feeling he ever had. For a morphine user, the body goes through painful complications if it doesn’t get its regular fix.
“My muscles were cramped, my joints hurt, and my head felt like it was going to explode. I was in such bad shape that I couldn’t even lift a pencil,” Mohammad explained about the pain.
“I really felt like I was an animal inside a cage,” he added.
Mohammad got out of prison on bail but was on parole and monitored by the authorities. He said that the first thought that he had when he stepped out in the open is that he wanted some morphine; but settled for an alcoholic beverage.
“When I left prison and went to drink, I knew it was going to be my last drink ever. I needed to change my life and the drugs weren’t going to get me anywhere,” he said.
Mohammad then went into rehabilitation on his own expense. His wife and doctor were the only two people supporting him. He said that it was difficult trying to get over the addiction.
“I believe one of the main reasons that I lived the life I had is because my faith was weak. I was also hanging out with the wrong people and I guess I didn’t feel cared for by my family,” he explained.
Mohammad is now fully rehabilitated and drug free for over three years with an accredited certificate that proves his success.
Times of Oman again asked about his family relationship after his rehab, he said, “It’s better than ever. Now my family doesn’t make a decision without consulting with me first. I have the final say.”
He is the eldest of 10 brothers and sisters.
Mohammad advised the youth to stay away from drugs saying that they will do harm more than good and to learn from his mistakes. He also advised drug users to consider their future and rehabilitate themselves in order to live a full life.
