Drugs are not good for you.

Drugs are not good for you.                                                                 310509

            Almost everyone knows the problems associated with the abuse of drugs. What is surprising, all the same, is the fact that everyday there are people who are introduced to the dangerous world of drugs where they eventually come out, if at all, with many self-inflicted wounds. Why do people go on to use drugs if they are as dangerous as we all know them to be?

            The major problem when it comes to drugs in not in that they are harmful to the user’s health. There are many harmful things that we use on a daily basis that we look at in retrospect and wonder how we survived them. If drugs could be dropped like we do many other harmful practices then there was not going to be a big problem. Most of the drugs that people use or abuse are so addictive that those who try to stop get serious withdrawal symptoms. Some of these things are difficult to understand for those who have not been involved, that is the reason why some are enticed into trying them in the first place. Some of these substances are so addictive that the user becomes a prisoner literally.

            If you look at the advertisements for all alcoholic beverages and cigarettes there is always a warning to the effect that there is danger associated with taking the product. All the same there are those who still purchase these products and use them despite these warnings. This is how we know the power of these drugs to hold captive its victims without any intentions of letting go at some point. The other drugs which are illegal are even harder, and their addiction is even more difficult to break. My question, which is still begging for answers is, “why do people still use these substances?”

            The young people are usually introduced to these substances by peers who do not tell them about the side effects. You can see a young man seemingly enjoying a cigarette simply because the peers tell him it is cool to smoke. For some time he endures the chest pains that result from the foreign smoke as the body tries to repel it. After some time it ceases to be an issue of whether the young man wants a cigarette or not but he “must” have it because the body is so used to operating with this poison that it seems it will die without it. The young man does not realise the beginning of serious addiction and goes on to buy more and more packets of cigarettes. Soon this young man becomes an old man who does not know what to do because he wants to stop so badly but he just can’t. Eventually he develops tuberculosis and/or many other conditions which usually cut his life short. The question that can then be asked is whether the image of being a hero in the eyes of the peers worth all the pain that such an individual goes through?

            Let me be quick to mention that it is not only the men who experience this smoking problem. Women too find themselves with the same problems. Scientists have proven that cigarettes do more damage to a woman than they do to a man. This is something for the ladies who want to begin smoking. Remember that once you begin smoking and do not stop with the first cigarette, smoking will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and eventually cost you more than you want to pay. That’s food for thought.

            Alcohol is another addictive substance that people use and abuse. There are many people who have suffered because of using this substance but still others continue to be introduced to its destructive clutches. It usually begins with a friend offering you a drink. At the end it is someone neglecting the family and spending all the money in the bar. Many who have given themselves over to this master have found it to be a hard taskmaster indeed. After using all the money on it and getting so drunk your friends have to take you home, you wake up craving for more. Others have managed to flee from its grasp thanks to associations like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is not an easy road, though, since it begins by admitting that you are an alcoholic, something that most alcoholics will never do. All the same, the truth is that no matter how many people believe it; alcohol causes more problems than solutions and should be avoided by all at all costs.

            A girl goes to a party where she is introduced to a group of boys who in turn introduce her to alcohol. They convince her it will make her feel great. She endures it but manages to finish a glass of some diluted “hot stuff”. She feels high but soon the alcohol becomes too much for her. She asks to go to the toilet and that is all she remembers. When she eventually comes to, one of her friends tells her she was picked in the toilet, fast asleep. That is not all, she has actually been raped. No one knows who exactly did it because she was discovered when everyone else had left. It is not clear how many people have slept with her but it is clearly more than one. The girl is in a dilemma; could she be pregnant, or HIV positive? All these are possibilities but she has to wait some time to find out. The fact remains that she may have missed being both pregnant and having the virus, but she will forever be a rape victim, and that is not something to wish upon even the worst of your enemies. Was the glass of alcohol really worth it? Only she can answer such a question.

            If you have a story that you think may help others avoid the traps of drugs and addictive substances, please share it with us. You do not have to give your name. Who knows, your life story can be someone else’s salvation. You do not want others to go through the pain you went through or are going through. Get in touch with me on rtharis@yahoo.com