By Alex Byanyiko
I have never met a sincere drug addict, young or old, who says he or she still enjoys the controlling effects of drugs and psychoactive substances over their lives. Most of them are usually full of frustrations, helplessness and regrets, sometimes even anger.
However, from my interactions with people involved with drugs over the years, I have observed four categories of such: the first group are those who just begin. They are completely ignorant of the consequences, so they are truly enjoying the euphoria and all other ‘high’ feelings that come from using drugs and psychoactive substances.
Such people are in a very different world as the drugs suspend their realities and, or consciousness. They flaunt their new habits among their friends and peers, feeling like people who have arrived, although they hide it away from their parents and guardians.
The second group pretend to be happy with themselves and always seek opportunity to introduce others to it. At social gatherings, they try to make others who do not partake in the use or abuse of drugs feel inferior. Most times they succeed in getting those friends or family members who do not have enough self-esteem to join the bandwagon. The more you’re in their kind of situation, the better they can relate with you. They pass their false sense of ‘class’ to you like the way a predator pounces on its prey.
Such people, when you’re socializing with them, they can spend whatever amount of money they have to buy you drugs, but they hardly ever spend their money on you for anything else.
The third group are those who, having later discovered the consequences of drug addiction, isolate themselves and only mix up with others who are suffering the same or similar challenges as they are. They don’t want to be around anyone who tries to talk to them about their addiction to drugs. This, most times, comes as a result of criticism, contempt and, or persistent condemnation and judgement by some family members and friends.
These category of drug addicts are more concerned about staying away from people who attack their ‘weaknesses’ than initiating others into what they do.
The fourth category are those sincere enough to admit their challenges and also genuinely advise others who are not yet into it, to stay away from drugs. They will always confess that if they had known the dangers of drug addiction, they would not have tried to use one in the first place. They will tell you how difficult it is to quit, when you’re already addicted to drugs. Most of the people in this category eventually get help and overcome their addiction.
The abuse of drugs and psychoactive substances usually begins like a thrilling game or eating chocolate. It feels good, fun, sweet and sometimes even powerful. When I was a teenager, some of my friends would have to take alcohol or other psychoactive substances, before they could approach a girl. If there was a party in town, boys and some girls would need to ‘charge up their batteries’ before the party would begin. It boosts confidence and makes them more sociable, they believe.
Sometimes around 1996 when I joined the MIB’s, a rap music group in Jos, Plateau State, at some of our shows a friend tried to persuade me into taking ‘weed’ so as to boost my performance on stage, in case I was asked to perform. Thank God at the time, I was never scheduled to perform at any of our shows yet, because my lyrics and rhymes were not polished enough. The rest would have been history.
I recall a day, at one of my cousin’s friend’s bachelor’s eve party, I went on a drinking spree just on my own. That night I offered a ‘wonderful’ prayer to God over my poor mother I left at home. Always to my regret and somewhat amusement, my cousin remembers this awkward prayer. However, that night ended my adventure as I woke up in the morning with a terrible hangover which turned out to be God’s amazing grace for me.
So why do people, especially the youth, get into drug addiction? (For proper understanding of what drugs are, I will refer you to my introductory article titled ‘LET’S GET TO IT: DRUG ADDICTION published here on the 13th of November 2019).
As I wrote in my previous article, people get into drug addiction for various reasons, but suffer the same consequences. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) identifies four basic reasons why people get into drugs:
CURIOUSITY AND BECAUSE OTHERS ARE DOING IT: The youth are the most vulnerable members of the society. They are mostly restless, adventurous and curious, so they are inclined towards learning new habits from others, especially those they admire and, or their peer group. Without knowing the dangers of drug addiction, once they are exposed to others who are using or abusing drugs, they quickly learn to do same, and the rest will be history.
TO FEEL BETTER: Life can be hard. Everyday life brings different kinds of challenges for us to conquer. While some of us have reasonable amount of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual muscle to deal with such challenges, others do not (because they probably haven’t developed theirs) as such, they usually fall into the temptation of using drugs just to feel better. Drugs stimulate certain parts of the brain that is responsible for our emotions. We will look at it in more detail subsequently, when we get to how drugs of addiction affects the brain, which is the first casualty. Do you remember some alcoholics who say they’re drinking their sorrow away? They drink to forget about life’s problems (which usually waits for them at the expiration of such feeling). Drugs of addiction temporarily relieves their users of social anxiety and, or stress-related issues only to come back at them with more cravings to use such drugs.
TO DO BETTER: Artistes and sports men and women are usually the ‘victims’ here. Because we all live in a competitive world, where everyone wants to be the best at what they do, some of us resort to using drugs so as to perform beyond our natural physical and, or mental ability. Drugs can increase our energy because they stimulate our neurons beyond their natural threshold, but they do not add any more talent or ability than what God has already deposited in us. And most times we only short change ourselves by using drugs because they make us lazy as not to spend the required time and training for us to reach our peak performance.
We are all witnesses to how athletes and some other sports men and women get disqualified for testing positive to some drugs and psychoactive substances in their systems. Similarly, many very talented musicians and actors have tragically ended their ‘reigns’ because of drug addiction.
TO FEEL GOOD: I bring this to the last because here, the only reason why people use drugs is to feel good about themselves (high). Their suspended realities, caused by the effects of the drugs in their brain makes them feel powerful, more self-confident, more energetic or relaxed, depending on the type of drugs used, whether such drugs are stimulants or depressants. We shall look at ‘stimulants’ and ‘depressants’ subsequently where we classify drugs of addiction based on that.
No doubt, there can be other reasons that attract people to drugs of addiction especially now in our increasingly fast paced world. However, one thing is certain: the good feeling drugs give you now is soon replaced with a constant depression and fatal bondage. The first casualty is our brain, then gradually our other organs like the lungs, liver and heart get destroyed. Drugs can be attractive, especially to our youth, but they are destructive. We can hardly help addicts, but we can prevent our children from becoming addicted. It all starts with timely enlightenment and education.
In our next article, I shall attempt to explain how drugs of addiction affect the brain that leads to addiction.
.Byanyiko is a screenwriter, filmmaker and rapper. He writes from Abuja
