As a drug pusher and user, Mohamad Yusof Othman would source for supplies, buy in bulk, appoint dealers to peddle his wares and let the profits rolling in feed his habit.

Ten years later he has honed those business strategies to greater success. Only, now he is off drugs and his trading talents are being used to run a snack food business where tidy profits are helping feed him and his family.

Yusof, or his thriving stall at the Kuala Lumpur Downtown Bazaar, are not unique - some 80 of the 400 traders at the night market are recovering drug addicts who sell household items, traditional medicine, tailoring services, foot massage service, clothes, snacks and toys.

The KL Downtown, as it is popularly known, is a venture of Pengasih, or "Care Giver," a Malaysian association of former drug addicts that aims to integrate its members back into society, to help them earn an honest living and to be independent, functional individuals.

"This market is a positive influence," the youthful-looking 47-year- old Yusof says. "When you are busy working on strategies to grow your business, your mind is full and you have a purpose ... there's no time to think of drugs and no need to turn to it."

Malaysia currently has about 23,000 drug addicts, and reforming some 80 may sound like a drop in the ocean. Still, it provides a clever and unique answer to the problem that may offer lessons and inspiration to other activists fighting addiction worldwide.

"It is a good start for such a small group," said Shan Kathirvelu of the local human rights group Suaram, adding that the project needs institutional backing from the government.

"It's time for the big effort, because the numbers are very big and the concerns are serious and recovering addicts need urgent care."

The recovering addicts at the Downtown Bazaar do not get any government aid to start their business - they have to raise their own funds. The land occupied by the bazaar belongs to the city municipality, which has loaned it to Pengasih.

The bazaar is a carnival-like night market open six days a week, where foot masseurs operate near teenage break dance performers, and magic shows or fire-eaters entertain customers while they buy batik sarongs.

All the recovering drug addicts there are Pengasih members. Membership rules are strict: addicts must be drug free and crime free for at least two years before they are allowed into the association and are mentored by senior members after that.

The project's manager, Mohamad Rustam Roshandin, 24, who was addicted to drugs at the age of 11 and cleaned up at 20 with Pengasih's help, said he mooted the bazaar idea to the group's directors to encourage entrepreneurship - and also to help himself.

"Before, I used to do all kinds of businesses, including (managing) discos. But it caused me to relapse because the reality is in those places you are surrounded by all kinds of substances," Rustam says with a smile. "The temptation can be too much."

His dream is to create a safe space not just for former addicts to ease into a normal life, but also to reach vulnerable teenagers. Pengasih's outreach teams often make their rounds in Kuala Lumpur's nightclubs to spot underage patrons.

"Most go for the music and to dance so we tell them, look, if you stay here and the police catch you, you'll be in trouble," Rustam says. "We tell them, come and perform at our place, we will pay you a fee for it."

The bazaar's motto for its weekly youth program, called "Street KL Downtown," is: "No drugs, no alcohol, keep the music clean." Busking, dance performances and hip-hop routines are encouraged.

Rustam and his 19 staff members, all of them recovering addicts, manage security and cleanliness, set up the stalls for traders, and run activities like clown shows, concerts by local pop stars and contests.

When the market was first set up in an empty piece of soccer-field sized land surrounded by apartment blocks in the Cheras neighborhood, nearby residents were uneasy and complained.

Many said, "Why drug addicts? How will they manage the place? It is going to become a drug den!" said Pengasih president Mohamad Yunus Pathi. "It was tough."

But soon the residents were won over, and the bazaar is visited by up to 25,000 people every week.

"Now they know they can trust us, that we are clean," he added. "Now, I think, they are quite fond of us!"

The organizers collect rent, which covers the cost of managing the place and facilities, and contribute to funds for Pengasih's drug addiction relapse- prevention programs at their 11 centers nationwide.

"I think society does want to help drug addicts get out of addiction," Yusof said.

"KL Downtown helps us help ourselves."

ASSOCIATED PRESS