Thursday 3 May 2012

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?



According to the Kenya police website Kenya Police

"A drug is any substance legal or illegal; which when administered - orally, or by injecting, snorting, smoking inhaling e.t.c, Stimulates or depresses the C.N.S (Stimulating – increasing the CNS activity); (Depressing – lessening the CNS activity (relaxation)"

James (not his real name) is a pal of mine: we grew up in the same area somewhere in Eastlands in high school he was such a cool dude. He passed on last year and the circumstances behind his death are rather chilling; apparently he had reached a point of drug addiction where you would meet him on the streets and he would actually chase after you. Some days he would disappear from the neighborhood and then resurface days later. Months would go and he suddenly became the estate’s mad man. There is a saying that goes that every market has a mad man well ours had James as the mad man.

One day he was suddenly gone; the story behind his death like said earlier was chilling. He left his home and went on rampage at a neighboring informal settlement he sexually harassed a lady along the streets; she was screaming and the public was on him showering him with stones and anything they could find to discipline this outsider who came to disturb the peace.

And there cut short a guy who had potential but was killed because of influence from drugs……


This prompted some thoughts:

If one day you woke up to find that your friend, Brother or sister is addicted to drugs would you care?
Would you care to find out how it all started?
What would you do?
And if you decide to help them out; How would you go about it?

What would you ask first? Would you incriminate them, stigmatize them? Or would you seek to get to the bottom of it and find out the reason behind their addiction?

Would it be that they are addicted so badly; that they are beyond rehabilitation? Is there such a thing as being beyond rehabilitation? Would rehabilitation help them out?

Or in questioning yourself would you end up blaming yourself for not taking action in time to save the situation?
If one day you woke up to find yourself or your loved one a drug addict what would you do?

Drug abuse has become rampant in our streets, our neighborhoods, our towns, our country. It has even become a common thing to see someone walking with miraa (cannabis) or a plastic bottle of alcohol in hand, and not many seem to be bothered. What can we do to change this? Should we just sit back and let our brothers, sisters, friends die in vain or stand up against this menace? What can we do as the youth?

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