Knock Knock ~ The Tale of Destruction.
~ A blog on ‘Substance Abuse’ by Anushka Singh
It’s a usual Sunday morning. You are enjoying it by sleeping late when suddenly you hear a knock on the door. Not once, not twice but thrice. Usually by now someone or the other opens the door but not today. Cursing your life, you wonder wht as you get up from the bed, walk to the door, open it, and then you meet me.
I greet you with a smile as I sense a tinge of confusion and disgust on your face. In that case, let me introduce myself. I am your destroyed future. The future that was solely and singlehandedly ruined, my bad, “customized” by you. Hey, Don’t be so shocked now. It was you who ordered me. You searched for me online, whenever you took a drag from that cigarette. You chose me between my fellow friends as swiftly as you choose your favourite alcohol. It was you only who typed the address when that drug dealer came across the street to deliver your favourite stuff (Marijuana, or was it weed?), and then when you forced your friend to try the sophisticated white poison, I understood that you were surely recommending me. Remember when you went trekking and your chest started heaving badly? I knew you wanted to track me and not the miles! Your work kept on piling up but you still prioritised me. That’s it. You proved yourself to be truly loyal, and for the payment of your loyalty, you chose cash on delivery but I guess despite the various warnings to check carefully before you place the order, you forgot to check the price. The price that you have to pay is happiness. All the happiness of yours, your family and your friends.
If you do not want such a customized devasted future delivered to your doorstep, do continue reading…
SUDs: Our enemy
Substance Use Disorder(SUD): A complex condition of uncontrolled use of a substance despite knowing the harmful consequences. The most commonly abused substances include tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs to such an extreme extent that it starts to influence a person’s ability on a daily basis. Distorted behaviour and the inability to function properly are some of the common consequences. Severe SUDs lead to addiction. According to research, addiction leads to changes in the structure and functioning of the brain that affects the areas that are responsible for judgment and decision, learning, memory, and behaviour control. Not only this, substance abuse has also been a major contributor to increased suicide cases all over the world.
If you have started accusing only alcohol and cigarettes when it comes to substance abuse, then pause for a while. The list goes on and on…..
- Alcohol
- Marijuana
- PCP, LSD, and other hallucinogens
- Opioid pain Killers such as heroin, codeine
- Sedatives such as medicines for anxiety and disorders
- Cocaine
- Tobacco
Good or Bad influence?
Let’s now focus our attention on the most critical matter about which sadly we still procrastinate to talk about. The reach and the weapons of substance abuse. Intentionally or unintentionally the credit for the glorification of it shamefully goes to our film industries and OTT platforms. Almost all of us have a favourite actor and when you see that actor, even if as a part of enacting, use such substances, you start glorifying and worse accepting it as the new “normal”. Then it doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not your peer pressure will force you to accept it if you want to be considered under the “cool category”. The cool category is one of the most absurd concept that I have ever heard of. So let us try to define it. Leather jacket, leather pants, swirl a cigarette, take a sip from your cheap beer and have knowledge about the latest drug popular in the market. That’s it you are done! Welcome to the cool category. Apart from this, experimental curiosity, poor socio-economic conditions, and wanting extra energy for coping with the extra busy schedules of today are some of the most significant reasons for the increased cases of substance abuse among students.
What do the numbers say?
According to the statistics, in India with a population of just over a billion, 62.5 million people have been identified to be consuming alcohol, 8.75 million people use cannabis, and two million use opiates, a five-time increase in the past 14 years. As per the Global Burden of Disease study, the illegal usage of drugs is solely responsible for killing nearly 7.5 lakh people worldwide and 22,000 in India alone. The UN says that the statement that drug abuse ‘is exclusively an urban phenomenon’ is a myth. My aim here is just to make us realize the scale of the problem to which we have turned our blind eye because we never consider something a problem unless we have statistics to prove it.
A second chance for all
It’s our mistakes that make us human and everyone is allowed to have a second chance. So do the people suffering from substance abuse. It not only hampers the dreams of individuals but destroys the prosperity of the whole nation. So yes here are some points that should be kept in mind while suffering or when your loved ones are suffering from substance abuse
- Recognize and accept the problem
- Motivate yourself to come out and start afresh
- Keep Track of your drug dosage.
- Seek out professional and personal help
Every generation is expected to build a strong, powerful, and secure future. And we, the generation with the most advanced technologies and resources are now under scrutiny. So I guess this is the time when we ask ourselves the most important question of the era. Which direction do we want to move forward towards? Are we building a future that would consist of insecurities and unhappiness? Or are we building a future where everyone can coexist peacefully? Trust me, the latter is only possible if we can free ourselves from the shackles of substance abuse. Let’s aim for a different kind of high, let’s be people who share dreams, not joints, let’s be ecstatic from our success, and let’s change this false equation of “fun” and “ crank ‘’. Let’s be the rightful owners of our destiny. Or else one day our destroyed future might be knocking on our doors.
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Instagram: @anushkasingh_002
