Mrs Ng is 78 years old and her son has been a heroin addict for over 20 years. He is now 51 years old and still lives with his parents in the same house. “He lives in a room and that is where he takes his daily dose,” she explains.
Tears well up in her eyes. They are no longer tears of sorrow or sadness. They are tears of one who has accepted defeat. Mrs Ng has given up on helping her son. “He has had many relapses.
“I’m getting old and no longer have enough strength to send him for treatment,” she admits. It costs about two thousand patacas a month to feed her son’s addiction and little is left over from the money that she receives from her Social Security Fund.
“Prices are going up and it is becoming increasingly difficult to handle this situation. I have to give him about 60 patacas a day to buy his dose,” Mrs Ng says resignedly. The Ng family’s nightmare began when one day the head of the family found his son taking drugs in the house.
“We lived in a small apartment and sold fish in the market. His father went home at noon and found him preparing the drugs,” she recalls.
They tried everything to get their son off heroin. At that time in Macau, there were not many places dedicated to drug rehabilitation, however the Ng family ignored any feelings of shame, and faced the problem openly, appealing several times to institutions in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Mrs Liu’s son is also a heroin addict, but he lives on the streets. The woman, 63 years of age, only found out two or three years ago that he had a drug problem.
“According to our records, her son has been dependent on heroin since 1991,” Eric Cheong, a social worker at the Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macau (ARTM) states.
“I lived in Taiwan for a long time. My son was married and had a son of his own. I never noticed he was hooked. Later, when I returned to Macau [more than 20 years ago] he was okay, but then he went back to the drugs,” Mrs Liu recalls.
Mrs Liu does not speak normally, instead she whispers so that the conversation is only between her and the assistant. She doesn’t know anything about drugs or the services that offer treatment in Macau. From the start, she gave up on her child, because she didn’t believe there was any hope.
“I do not know enough about it to ask for help, nor did I have the mindset to resolve the situation. I’m afraid, my son often thinks about suicide. I have lost hope. My son cannot be cured. There is no way to help him,” she says.
Mrs Liu’s son was recently admitted to the ARTM centre. “He left two days ago. He dropped out of the treatment,” the social worker notes.
Snowball effect
Ja Bao Bao, 48 years old, is from another generation and his son got involved with a drug that is very much in fashion today, ketamine. Bao Bao did not know what ketamine was until he began to notice the strange behaviour of his son. It was six years ago.
“My son began to always appear to be lacking energy and had a runny nose. He was always sleepy and lost weight. He left his studies, just when I discovered the problem,” he says.
Bao Bao had his hands full.
“I took him to the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) to get someone to help him, but he refused. I did not know much about drugs, but I tried to call community centres and the police for someone to help me make him stop. It did not work,” he laments.
Today his son is 22 years old and in prison. Bao Bao recognizes that nowadays there are more support services for both addicts and for families, but suggests that the government should invest more in promotion, prevention and counselling, because “families suffer from a stigma.”
“Rather than hide the problem, we must face it. [Drug addiction] has a snowball effect, it gets bigger and bigger. I even tried to ask the police to arrest my son’s dealer, but that did not work,” he confesses.
More than 80 families are registered at the ARTM centre for family support, but the non-governmental organization can only currently support about 20. Eric Cheong believes that many more need help. Shame is a bad counsellor.
“Most families try to hide the situation. Although there has been progress regarding the social stigma around addiction, it is happening at a very slow pace. There is lack of specific services and information for families,” Cheong argues.
The social worker wants to see more associations providing services for anonymous families, similar to those provided by ARTM.
“We must all work together, associations, community centres and neighbourhood organizations, to disseminate more information on drug prevention,” he adds. Maria Ramadas, former coordinator of the programme dedicated to young people, ‘Be Cool’ by ARTM, admits that drugs are still a taboo in Macau.
“People are not at all aware of the problem and what the most used drugs are. Most think they are protected and that their children do not run that risk,” she laments. However, Macau is no different from anywhere else in the world, the president of ARTM Augusto Nogueira, in turn stresses.
“It’s a global problem. Families only take notice of drugs when that need is present,” he notes. Nogueira believes that the existing services are sufficient to provide support to families. More than the shame or the difficulty in seeking advice, he points the finger to the lack of attention that parents pay to their children.
It is a fact that the age of first use is decreasing and young people begin to use drugs in their homes, which makes action by social agents more difficult and creates new challenges.
Data from the Central Registry of Drug Abusers of Macau shows that the number of users increased 7.5 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year, but the proportion of young people using decreased by 21.3 percent. In total there are 673 drug addicts registered in the territory.
In a general sense, the IAS report says that most addicts are young, with 25.9 percent starting to use drugs between 16 and 20 years of age. About 20.9 percent have their first experience at age “16 or less.”
Drug Parties
Luís Carvalhais, coordinator of the ARTM treatment centres, and Maria Ramadas warn that more and more young people are start ing to use drugs at 12 or 13 years of age. “And the first experience is increasingly beginning to be at home,” says Maria Ramadas.
The government is aware that “the situation is serious and the problem has to be faced,” admits the head of prevention and drug treatment of IAS, Wilson Hon.
“There is a lack of knowledge by the population in relation to drugs. Now, more and more young people consume at home or at friends’ homes. They are called drug parties. This is becoming very regular and creates many difficulties for IAS, because it is difficult for us to reach these young people in order to help them,” admits the director.
Last year this department and the Bureau of Education and Youth started to show an anti-drug film entitled “You Should Know” to alert families, teachers and social workers to this new phenomenon. However, Hon admits that there is still much more to do.
“We are trying our best to extend our work and to ensure that the anti-drug message gets better publicized,” he stresses.
Recently, IAS launched teaching materials to support the prevention of drug use by youth. The purpose of this publication is “facilitating the work of teachers, social workers and professionals in the business of disseminating information on the prevention of drug abuse by the young, not only in schools, but also in associations and organizations dedicated to youth.” In addition, the government wants to promote early detoxification amongst young users.
“People often seek help only after five or six years of consumption. This is already a bit late and lessens the chance for success,” explains the head of the department. The campaign is aimed at young people and their families. “Often people think that the process of detoxification is akin to the process of washing clothes, it is only necessary to do it once and the job is done,” Wilson Hon adds. This project has the participation of police and prosecutors, schools and social workers. IAS has distributed informational materials to young people such as key chains and other articles, including “detox tips” and other information.
Macau is boring
Asked about the reasons that lead young people to consume at home, Hon admits “it is very difficult to answer. We must look to the social development of Macau”, he begins by way of explanation.
“There are many factors that we have to consider. In today’s society, both parents work shifts and contact with the child is reduced. This creates a risk for drug use without anyone knowing. Previously, young people gathered in discos and karaoke bars once a week to use drugs, but now, at home, it can be done at any time. The problem is serious,” he warns.
Augusto Nogueira and the ARTM team have a different view. The organization’s president believes that the strong police presence in nightlife establishments has led to this change in the consumption location.
According to the association, one must consider the lack of facilities and activities for young people. “Why do young people in Macau look for drugs? Because there is a lack of infrastructure where they can spend their energies. In this context, information about drugs turns out to be secondary,” argues Nogueira.
Maria Ramadas also criticizes the lack of stimulating activities for young people and Luís Carvalhais of ARTM concurs.
“We call for anti-drug awareness, but in practice this does not work that well.”
Those responsible warn that it is not just a lack of infrastructure, as much as the fact that existing activities do not attract young people.
“Young people do not identify with the activities, they find them very childish. It is necessary that the field of preventive action should be extended to other areas,” the coordinator of the rehabilitation centres appeals.
On the other hand, social workers complain that it is not easy to reach parents. They are too busy or refuse to expose the subject.
“Often the mother knows that the child uses drugs and the first thing she says is: ‘Oh you know if your father finds out!’ The first concern is if the neighbour knows. One or two years go by and the adolescent is already dependent,” says Carvalhais.
Taking it to the schools
The Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macao (ARTM) recently organized a lecture on “Drugs and the Impact on Families” at the Portuguese School, open to parents and teachers.
The local association invited Tony Trimingham, president of an Australian organization for supporting families with drug problems, and Gino Vumbaca, executive director of the National Drug Council of Australia, to share their experiences with the public.
Tony Trimingham spoke about the tragic loss of his son due to an overdose of heroin and his experience of 20 years of counselling work. The Australian is the author of “Not my family, Never my child,” a guide to support parents, families and loved ones of drug users. He shared the real problems faced by families and friends of someone struggling with addiction. For his work in the fight against drugs in Australia, Trimingham has twice been awarded prizes in 1999 and 2008.
Gino Vumbaca also spoke about the role of families in developing anti-drug police in Australia.
A session for parents and teachers of the International School of Macau was also held.
“The aim of the talks is to share the experiences of Tony Trimingham in the family context as well as to talk about the need to revise the law to combat trafficking and the consumption of drugs” explains Nogueira. The association is also trying to launch a debate on the law currently in force since 2009, arguing that the wording should encourage treatment rather than merely being punitive in nature.