Drug addiction in teens

 

 

Rogers Twinomugenyi 18, scored 15 points in last year’s Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations. Sadly, he might not continue with his education due to marijuana addiction. “I can only say that I am going to university with hope, but there is nothing to show that I can make it,” he says.

Twinomugenyi, who lives in a slum in Kamwokya, Kampala, blames his addiction on the environment he lives in. “This society is permissive. Children start living on their own as early as six years. Our parents are marijuana smokers too and we have no role models,” he says.

 

Another teenager in the same slum, Hassan Isingoma, says he started smoking marijuana four years ago. He is now a S2 student in a government-aided schools in Kampala.

 

Isingoma says he can no longer resist the addiction because he cannot understand what is taught in class if he does not smoke marijuana. Isingoma is just one of many boys who are getting addicted to marijuana at a tender age. Referring to marijuana as “food for the brain,” he says: “those who want to fight marijuana use should know that we are addicted and it is really hard to stop it. Without it we cannot do anything.

 

To drive his point home, when a team of officials from Teen Challenge Uganda and Uganda Health Communication Alliance visited Kamwokya slum to follow up on the youth they are trying to help to drop the habit recently, Isingoma pulled out the stuff and puffed as his peers cheered. 

 

As he smoked his eyes quickly turned reddish but he kept on assuring his visitors that he was feeling fresh and ready to go for afternoon lessons at school. 

Isingoma belongs to a group of boys led by a 24-year-old man who calls himself Simple Wizard. Others refer to him as King of the Wizard Crew. The boys see him as their hero. Each morning he gathers his friends for a marijuana smoking session. Apart from musical practice, there is hardly anything that this group of young men does after smoking.

 

Simple Wizard, who did not want to give his real name, says after smoking marijuana and tobacco, he feels relaxed. He says he is so addicted to the drugs that he cannot spend a day without them. Although their names are not in the public domain as entertainers, these boys say they earn a living through music. 

Ignorance rules

 

Some of them are not aware of the dangers of smoking marijuana. Whereas Simple Wizard complains that he becomes sleepy if he smokes a lot of marijuana, he does not think it can cause him other problems.

 

“My blood is very strong and I do not think marijuana can do me any harm. I have had sex with eight women who have AIDS but I have not contracted it. In fact I have a baby with one of them,” Simple Wizard says, betraying his recklessness.

 

A mother of three who asked not to be named says: “It is a big problem raising children in such an environment. Many children end are passive smokers.” 

 

However, like an oasis in a desert, Edward Bitiibwa has resisted the temptation. Although he sings with the smokers, Bitiibwa is aware of the dangers of smoking tobacco and marijuana. “After smoking, they look like they are out of their senses. They become lazy and if they do something good for themselves, it is by accident,” he says.

Once addicted to smoking and drugs, one needs help in order to overcome the addiction. It is not an easy battle to win, but many have tried and managed to rebuild their lives. An example is Sanny Katongole, 23, who quit after smoking for four years. Katongole was helped by counsellors from Teen Challenge Uganda.

 

Before joining the rehabilitation programme eight months ago, Katongole had become dependent on marijuana to the extent that he could only have the confidence to talk after smoking. 

 

“Smoking is so addictive and it makes you lose your natural abilities. While you are talking with your colleagues, you will suddenly realise that you are not saying what you should be saying until you go away and smoke before you rejoin your colleagues,” he says.

 

Like many of his colleagues, Katongole regrets the four years he spent smoking marijuana because he lost enormous opportunities and friends. He also lost the trust of people around him.

 

 “I lost somebody who was paying my fees. I lost many opportunities and friends. People no longer trusted me,” he says.

Katongole who will be completing his counselling schedule in August vows not to smoke again because it nearly ruined his life. “Here we take counselling and Bible lessons. I will not smoke again because I have Jesus in my life,” he adds.

 

Likewise Moses Musisi 23, who started his counselling sessions 12 months ago, says he was only saved by relatives who took him for counselling.

 

 “Alcohol had ruined me until my relatives brought me here. I will never drink again,” he says.

 

Although Musisi is committed to leading a drug-free life after his treatment, he has to work hard to prevent a relapse, which can happen if he hangs around wrong company.

 

This may include people who are still taking drugs or living in an environment where drugs are easy to get. He also has to find alternatives to drug use, especially when he is having problems or going through stressful situations.  

 

According to senior psychiatrist and deputy executive director of Butabika Hospital, Dr. David Basangwa, addicts are usually unable to control their dependence on drugs. “Addicts are unable to stop using drugs because chemical changes take place in their bodies and cause them to crave drugs,” he said.

 

When one is addicted to drugs, one cannot function without them, which explains why Simple Wizard and his colleagues cannot do anything without drugs in their system. Basangwa notes that younger people get addicted faster than older people. 

 

According to research, a child’s environment, availability of drugs and genetic factors are some of the factors that lead to drug addiction in children. 

 

For instance, children whose parents abuse drugs are more likely to get addicted to drugs. Such children may be 45% to 79% more likely to abuse drugs than children whose parents stay away from drugs.

 

Some studies have also shown that children with genes that can increase one’s risk of abusing alcohol stand a higher risk of abusing and getting addicted to drugs. In one 2003 study, identical and fraternal twins were studied and results showed that an identical twin is likely to use and get addicted to drugs/alcohol if his/her twin is addicted to these substances. 

 

Dr. Fred Okuku of the Uganda Cancer Institute says little attention is paid to the dangers of smoking. Problems associated with smoking are likely to increase as more young people pick the smoking habit in a country with the youngest population in the world.

 

Okuku says smoking remains a big challenge, although it accounts for less than 10% of the cancer burden in                    Uganda. 

 

He warns that one can develop lung cancer from smoking the pipe, cigarettes and marijuana. According to Okuku, out of every five smokers, one will develop cancer. Drug abuse can also lead to mental illness, loss of jobs or dropping out of school. In most cases, addicts commit crimes under the influence of drugs, although this may not save them from the long arm of the law. 

 

Okuku adds that the cost of treating the disease is very high because it requires a combination of drugs and surgery. The cost of treating cancer, if detected early in Uganda, ranges from sh7m to sh10m, although it can get higher than this. 

 

However, most people discover that they have cancer when it is too late. “For a poor country like Uganda the solution lies in giving up smoking because many cannot foot the bill,” he says.

 

He explains that if the cancer is in advanced stages, a patient may be placed on oxygen, implying that sh300,000 has to be spent in refilling the oxygen tank every two weeks.

 

Alcohol and Drug Unit in Butabika Hospital.

 

Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Uganda, Church Road, Old Mulago, Kampala. 

 

Serenity Centre, Kabulamuliro, Namulanda (Off Entebbe Road)

 

Teen Challenge Uganda, Ntinda, Kampala

 

Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) located in Masooli (Kampala), Nabulaggala (Rubaga, Kampala) and in Kitega, Mukono.

Most hospitals/health facilities around the county.

 

Alcohol Anonymous Uganda (AA), Kampala holds meetings on Alcohol and Drugs every Tuesdays and Fridays at Christ the King Church Kampala (1st Floor, room 3) from 01:00pm to 2:00pm. You can also visit AA centres in Masaka, Lira, Jinja, Kabale, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Gulu, Arua and Rukungiri. 

 

Drug Abuse Prevention Initiative, Kampala 

 

Police Family Protection Unit: Visit any police station countrywide

 

Beam of Hope, Mbale

 

Fresh Start: behind Temple Hill, Kisaasi, Kampala.

 

Hope Rehabilitation Centre, Kampala 

 

National Care Centre: Kasenyi Road- Off Gaba Road at Zebra Point, Katuso-Buziga, Kampala

 

Sober Uganda, Plot 25 Namirembe Road, Kampala 

 

Uganda Children Center (UCC) Kampala

 

Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO-Uganda)

 

 

 

A Tobacco contains nicotine as the main component which causes addiction. You become addicted to smoking once nicotine gets into your blood. 

 

It is because people who engage in reverse smoking by putting the part of the cigarette with fire in the mouth develop oral cancer on the tongue and other tissues in the mouth that get burnt.

 

Yes. People who chew fresh tobacco leaves develop cancer of the stomach since they swallow the toxins contained in the tobacco. Such people are also likely to develop cancer in other parts of the body that get into contact with the leaves before they settle into the stomach.