Culled from our Instructional Material: S.A.F.E™ 4 YOU

TIP 93

DRUG ABUSE (2)

“An over-indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate.”

Criss JAMI

 Welcome to our discussion today my dear and precious young ones.

I am here to continue our discussion on Drug Abuse. For the purpose of this discussion we will be concentrating more on the second category of our definition, which solely dwells on drugs we listed yesterday, which also include cigarette.

One sure fact about drug abuse is that it is a progression from one harmful drug to the other until one reaches the climax. For example a young person, who is addicted to marijuana today started most often with cigarette and got addicted to that, then graduates to marijuana when his/her system, outgrows the stimulating effect of cigarette, then to cocaine and ultimately heroine.

In a newspaper report titled: “Heroine affects your life, cocaine destroys your pocket”, a drug addict said: “I have been smoking (cigarette) before starting to take drugs”. “…A recent study of 11,000 middle school students has established a statistical relationship between the use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis”.

Dr. Kariu Ndiolu in an article titled: “Cannabis: A hidden Danger” stated as follows, “a study conducted by the National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, New York reveals as follows: “among teens …those who drank and smoke cigarettes at least once in a month were thirty (30) times more likely to use marijuana than those who did not. Teenagers in the same group…were seventeen (17) times more likely to abuse other drugs like cocaine, heroine and amphetamines”.  Other studies carried out in Italy, further reveals “the progressive nature of how substance abuse experience with one kind of drug sets the user on a search for stronger and quick acting chemicals”. From the facts presented above addiction to other harmful and hard drugs begins with smoking of “cigarettes at least once in a month.”

Before leaving you today, having defined drug abuse, I will like to share with you what I have found as the reasons why young people like you go into the use of drug. Here are some of them:

1. Example: I began to smoke cigarettes before I was 12 years old. My father smoked cigarettes regularly and I copied him. I had started drinking earlier. My father also drank and many days, he would be drunk and not be able to find his way home. I took after my father very early. That was to my detriment. I will share with you later how to deal with the impact of negative examples from caregivers.
2. Indulgence: as young people, you indulge yourselves. What does it mean to indulge? To indulge simply means to allow yourself to enjoy the pleasure of something you desire without carefully considering the consequences. It has been found that drug abuse is an area where many young people indulge themselves. The truth of the matter is that you give yourself sundry excuses to indulge yourself in one kind of bad habit or the other. You think you cannot do without a particular thing or a particular lifestyle. One major reason why you indulge yourself is that you are not aware of the consequences of your actions. You fail to understand that for every action, there is a reaction. Therefore, no one gets away with anything. Until you choose to discipline yourself, you are not ready to live. I will spend time later discussing with you how to put your indulgences under firm control.

I think should round up today here and continue tomorrow. Thank you and do have an INSPIRED day.

The THINK Factor

How do you relate to the reasons why young people like you get involved in drug abuse? Take time to really reflect and share your thoughts in your S.A.F.E™ 4 YOU Personal Journal and share with your parents and other trusted caregivers and friends.