DRUG ABUSE

A few years back those who were hooked on drugs were few and far between. Now you meet addicts at every turn. In the US alone it is believed that some 10 percent of the population, mostly between the age of 15 and 30, are seriously involved with drug addiction.
Many of the drugs which the young use are not new. Some have been used in certain countries since time immemorial – opium in China and India, marijuana in Mexico, and cocaine in Bolivia and Peru.

Drugs used by adults act on the higher centers of the brain, and all produce, for shorter or longer periods, an intense feeling of wellbeing, or euphoria. But this feeling is artificial and illusory.

Drugs used are of various types – narcotics, depressant, stimulants, hallucinogens, inhalants. Inhalants are chemical compounds which are breathable, and these may include paints, varnishes, lacquers, hair sprays, furniture polishes, dry-cleaning solvents, gasoline, glues, and fingernail polish.

The users feel good as long as the drug is in their system but the moment its effect is gone, it leaves them with an all-gone feeling. The user when on high is in a delightful fantasy world, but when the drug’s effect wears off, it leaves him depressed and unable to function effectively in the harsh world of reality.

The user’s perception of time and space is greatly distorted. Walls that are near may appear to be far away. Delusions and hallucinations are common. Time may drag, and traveling 90 miles an hour may be perceived as moving only at a snail’s pace. Hence, driving is an extremely dangerous activity for the drug user, because as long as he is behind the wheel he is a potential killer on the roads.

Rehabilitation is usually a long and difficult process. It is much better to prevent addiction than to cure it.

Let us see to it that our schools, churches, and especially our homes are such that out youth may find them more inviting than the camaraderie they get from their peers, so that none of them will say, “No one cared for my soul.”