Gurpreet Singh used to work at a factory in Griffith some years ago when a co-worker told him about Kamini tablets - that if you consume them, you can work for very long hours without getting tired.
He says, "I went to an Indian grocery shop and saw someone buying these tablets. I asked the shopkeeper what it was. He told me this is Kamini, which gives you a lot of energy to keep on working, without feeling tired." That's when Gurpreet bought a bottle of Kamini for the first time and took a pill.
"I felt my face go red and at first I felt like vomiting because I had never taken anything like it before. But soon I felt good, I didn't have any problem in driving, and I was ok." Soon, Gurpreet began consuming two pills a day, which slowly built up to 5 tablets a day.
"One day I had an early shift at work, but I just couldn't go until I had some Kamini pills. I went to the Indian grocery store at 8 am itself, kept pacing up and down for two hours until the shop finally opened at 10 am. It isn't until I took the pills that I felt ready to go to work. That's when I realised that I was completely addicted to these tablets," says Gurpreet.
Gurpreet claims that he even went to the local police station, to make a complaint that addictive drugs were being sold openly at a grocery store. He was directed to contact the Department of Border Protection with this information, which he says he did.
Kamini tablets Source: SBS Punjabi
After consulting his GP, Gurpreet then went to the Westmead Cumberland hospital in Sydney and began a de-addiction program there. "I have not had Kamini tablets for a year now, and feel very good."
He warns other Kamini addicts, "If you keep having Kamini tablets, it will ruin you. Eventually, you will have to go to a doctor for help and that maybe too late. Better to go right now, tell them the complete truth and let the doctor arrange a de-addiction program for you."
But Kamini addiction isn't a problem limited to a city or a country, says Gurpreet. "The problem is, if you have Kamini in Sydney and travel to Melbourne or Brisbane, you can still get the pills easily over there. You can get them in New Zealand, Canada, UK, everywhere. It is so widely available, that children as young as 15 can easily get these tablets. Something must be done so that no one has access to it anywhere in the world."
Gurpreet is also keen to help any addict with support and guidance about de-addiction. "If anyone wants to speak to me and find out more about the de-addiction program here, I'll be very happy to help. My advice to everyone who takes Kamini pills is - try to spend just one day without the pills. You will realise that you are addicted to it. Once you realise you're addicted, you must see your GP and get help. One must always be truthful to God and to your doctor - everything falls into place then".
