The sad reality of Drug Addiction in Kashmir!
BY: Faizaan Bashir
Watching through the window, this old frazzled man urged me to have a disheartening view of two of his younger children puffing weed. So much so, their style of talking and bodily movements would quiver with each passing second. This reminded me of the time when I too had grown the victim of these bad habits. The clutches of this trap, as best as I can remember, had gripped me to the hilt. It was as if the seal of drugs was stamped both on my heart and mind. I just was not able to get myself out of the world of drugs. For the most part, a person tends to ‘considerably’ think over crucial and critical aspects of life, but the whole self of mine seemed to have been paralysed by drugs.
Obviously there are many questions like, what is it that tricks a normal being into taking drugs? Even after realising its cartloads of harmful effects, why isn’t one able to stop taking them once and for all? The answer to all these questions lies in the fact that, of all the drug-abusers, more than 70 percent have a history of depression, stress, anxiety and many other psychological disorders that they found too difficult to put up with. So, in order to give to the mind a ceaseless rush of dopamine, a chemical giving us a temporary feeling of relaxation, consuming drugs becomes the fitting choice.
There are different drugs available and each has its own features. The way cannabis can give momentary sigh of relief, the cigarettes hardly can; and the continuous cycle of consuming one over another becomes the nasty priority! A sign of stress is indicative of mind demanding something to get the relaxation from. And here the depressed folk become an easy prey to drugs.
Drugs, cruellest killers, have a plethora of dreadful effects on our lives. It’s been found that taking drugs reduces the oxygen levels in our veins; thereby affecting our heart. Drugs have a huge negative impact on our brains, too. As a drug abuser, I had become victim of many mental disorders. I had grown paranoid. Many fears had taken up my mind and I quite often used to neglect everyone coming my way. This is what taking drugs does to us!
Having refrained from taking these silent killers, I can say that those that are used to devouring or snuffing or whatever ways they take them in should at least check the status of their lives. They should ask themselves what it is that prompts them to become the easy victim of drugs. Analysing the root causes would do plenty in helping one recover from the predicament. If there is any kind of stress or depression or strain, as the major causes remain so at most of the times, despite the fact we don’t comprehend it at the moment, self-control, meditation and seeking help should be considered, wholeheartedly, instead.
Those who, fortunately, are not using the harmful substances, must pay no heed to it ever, for once it has been consumed, one fails to understand what to do and what not to. The need of the hour is to create awareness regarding the downsides – trap – of using drugs. We must impart in our education system the whole concept of drugs as to how these affects the health and psychology of the people who use them. And most importantly, how to waive off our uneasiness at times with mental exercises to keep calm.
There is an urgent need to start a campaign, protest against those dealers and smugglers who sell different kinds of drugs. The administration ought to put more efforts in cracking whip on such elements. At the same time, instead of penalising the drug abusers, they should be given counselling sessions to sort out the issues that prompt them to take drugs in the first place.
Furthermore, parents must keep a vigil on their children; from where they are coming, who are they friends with, why are they coming late, what they have done to the pocket money and other such issues. These are the questions which every parent must ask their children. Talking freely with your children is yet another way to inhibit any strain eating away at their fragile minds.
We will have to do these things for the sake of our people, in general- our children, in particular, the sooner, the better.
