December 3rd of each year is the International Day of People with Disability, however this year it was totally different for Yaser. This was the first day of Yaser’s freedom after years of imprisonment in the prison of addiction. Once, he used to consume three grams of opium daily but when he woke up that morning, he surprisingly felt that he has no need for drugs. He had no withdrawal symptoms and no drug craving. He was free and feeling alive once again.
Ten days later, I had a conversation with Yaser and asked him to share his life story with us.
Dear Yaser, please introduce yourself.
My name is Yaser and I am a traveler. I used to eat three grams of opium daily. I got treated through Congress 60’s DST method and under the guidance of Mr. Heidari. I finished my first journey (treatment program) ten days ago. I am 31 years old and have physical disability and mobility impairment. I have a bachelor’s degree in educational sciences.
Congratulations on your successful treatment. Please tell us about your disability.
I got this problem during my birth. Back then, my parents used to live in an outlying town, due to my father’s occupation. On my birth day, my mother was home alone and nobody was there to help her or take her to a hospital so she had to deliver the child (that was me) by herself and this resulted in my disability. We moved back to Tehran a few years later and my parents registered me in a special school. However, after finishing elementary school I got admitted into an ordinary school. During the first few months, other students could not accept me as their school mate, but gradually I found my place among them and they all liked me.
Do you remember the first time you used drugs? What happened that you started using drugs?
When I was 19, just like other teenagers, I liked to be in love with someone, a mutual attachment. This had happened and I had a huge crush on a girl two years younger than me. We became friends and my life was very tasty and colorful during those days. I was very happy than someone can love me just like normal person without any disabilities. I was in Love.
However, this did not last long. Her mother found out our relationship and made her stop seeing me just because of my special conditions. It was a living hell; I was taken away from my loved one just because of my disability. Nothing mattered anymore. The worst thing was the reaction of my own family. Instead of comforting and helping me to overcome the situation, they started to blame me for my feelings. I felt desperately lonely and had no one to talk to and share my feelings.
My cousins used to live in north of Iran and were opium abusers. I had seen them using drugs before, but never had felt like to try it. However, once in those lonely days I went to visit them and found them smoking opium with some of their friends. They all seemed very kind and sympathetic to my feelings and sense of loss. They listened to my words carefully and eagerly, respected my feelings and no one ridiculed me. They did not laugh at my manners, the way I smoked or drank tea. They all treated me like a normal person and not as a disabled. That was the first time I tried opium. Smoking opium made everything calm and pleasing, I felt myself walking on clouds. That day, I found out deeply inside that opium is the best thing to sooth my pain. I told myself that in Tehran, my parents watch over my behavior, and I know no one to buy opium from or have no place to smoke opium at so, I would never get addicted to it.
Being a disabled, didn’t you have difficulties acquiring and consuming drugs?
In those initial stages of addiction, I only used opium whenever I visited my cousins. They helped me smoke opium and this lasted for 2 years. Later on, I found out that I could eat opium instead of smoking it. Therefore, I looked for opium dealers in Tehran and finally found some dealers to acquire my opium from. It was summer of 2000 that I felt withdrawal for the first time. From that time on, I was a daily opium consumer.
Day by day, my behavior looked more like an addict. I started to go home late and wake up late in the morning. I did not care about my appearance and health. This behavior made my parents to become suspicious and one day that I left home to go and buy some opium, my father followed me and got me red handed buying opium. He brought me back home and held me captive at home. After a few days, I was feeling better physically but I was very nervous and aggressive. They brought me to a psychiatrist, and he said that he can do nothing for me and I should attend some certain group therapy meetings. However, I got back to opium just a few weeks later …
To be continued …
Interview by: Ali Ziayi