About 200 people are living in the streets of Lautoka with addiction to glue and hard drugs while 12 months ago there were 90 people on the streets.
Adult Teen Challenge Fiji’s Executive Director, Hemraj Mangal highlighted this during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked why they say the situation has gotten out of control, as the Minister for Home Affairs and the Leader of the Opposition have labelled it as a national security concern.
This organization is running the country's first-ever drug rehabilitation centre that is located in Lololo, Drasa in Lautoka which was established for youths whose lives have been entangled with drugs.
Mangal says if people go in the streets of Lautoka, drugs are in every corner where about 12 months ago 15 milligrams of ice was sold for $50 and this year the price has come down to $15.
He says there is a huge supply of drugs in the market which leads to social and moral decay in the family structure where values are not taught, and people start to experiment with drugs and are later addicted.
The Executive Director says for now, their centre can only accommodate 12 students and they are dedicated to teaching them the basics of life.
According to the data of the Global Teen Challenge Centre which has 140 centres, it takes a person 16 to 20 weeks to lose the desire for drugs.
When asked why the current location was chosen for the rehabilitation centre, Mangal says the 20-acre land was bought from a church member.
He further says the location is peaceful, and students would not run away.
When asked what are they doing, he adds they have an in-house residential program that involves three stages with a program of 12 to 14 months.
The first stage is recovery where a person loses the desire for drugs, the second stage is rehab where the person is taught new values of life and behaviour while the third stage involves empowerment by providing vocational training and restoring them back to their families.
They are waiting for the government to work with them.
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