Youth, boredom and easy access to heroin are a deadly combination in the Republic of the Maldives, where the drug is available for about $1 a shot. And as availability of alcohol increases in the tiny country, so does the potential for its abuse.
The pervasive problems led a delegation of public officials from the collection of 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean to visit the North Coast Monday as part of a tour of the United States to learn how different communities treat and rehabilitate substance abusers.
Mariya Ali, the country's deputy minister for Health and Family told listeners that young people traditionally helped with boat maintenance and chores. Today, as Western cultures overtake traditions, youth don't have arcades or shopping malls in which to hang out, she said. And their families are scorned if youth are allowed to take jobs.
Mohamed Fiznee, the Maldives' acting head of provincial drug rehabilitation centers, said the country depends on tourism for jobs, but jobs on the individual islands are rare.
"Here in the West, children can go and do part-time jobs when they don't have school or during summer vacation," Ali said. "From a young age, parents give children money to handle. In the Maldives, children would never actually be given any pocket money."
People are seen as bad parents if their children work in the Maldives.
Ibrahim Abdul Gadir, the country's acting senior prison officer, and host Stanley Zakrzewski, a U.S. English language officer who is traveling with the delegation, accompanied Ali and Fiznee. The group is visiting selected locations in the United States as part of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program. The World Affairs Council of Oregon arranged the visit to the North Coast because it is a fishing and tourism community. From here, the group will travel to Portland, then Kentucky and beyond.
Program directors from LifeWorks Northwest, graduates of two local drug courts and Corbett Monica, the founder of Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, gave presentations to the delegation at the Duncan Law Seafood Consumer Center Monday morning.
Michel Mieffren, the director of LifeWorks Northwest told the visitors that not only is Astoria a fishing area, it too suffers with many residents fighting addictions, like in the Maldives.
LifeWorks Northwest's Prevention Coordinator Jill Quackenbush told the delegation that the local health care community is focusing on prevention and the environment.
Thirteen percent of eighth graders and 53 percent of 11th graders used alcohol over the past month, Quackenbush reported. She said the organization has implemented programs to try and change the perception that alcohol use is the norm.
"Girls have easier access to alcohol than boys," she said.
One program that LifeWorks has been successful is teaching 11- to- 14-year-old girls "refusal skills."
Another program focused on youth between 10 and 14 years old, the Strengthening Families Program, teaches parenting skills and life skills to high-risk families.
Fiznee said that everybody knows whether somebody is using drugs in the Maldives. Some families can help at-risk children. Others can't.
"You will end up in jail or in a treatment center," he said. "We only have two treatment centers in the country."
Law plays a role in the Maldives, Fiznee said. Using drugs is considered a crime, not a disease, he said.
"We're looking at a lot of ideas," Ali said. "and at what's worked and not worked. We don't have a lot of services available at the moment."
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