Issues and addiction may affect people but do not shape them

IT is not often that someone’s admiration for a habit is likened to that person’s love for a lost loved one. Whereas the majority of people have hobbies, some people battle with addiction and unresolved personal problems. It is, however, important to remember that although an addiction may affect people, by no means does it shape them.

Prakash Jitlall strongly prefers the name Rocko. It is a name that he adopted at the age of just 12; also, around the time he began drinking and smoking. Today at 51 years old, Rocko has smoked cigarettes every day for more than three decades. It is a habit he knows is harmful, but he says he simply cannot do without it. There is a long list of things that have happened during Rocko’s life that have shaped his opinions on life and his views on people and have made him into the man he is today.

Rocko grew up in a few places but has always called the West Bank home. A large part of his life was spent in the village of Plantain Walk, which has crafted his love and admiration for the community. Rocko is well known around the community of Plantain Walk and Pouderoyen. He considers the friends he has made in the community to be closer than family and far more loyal and helpful. Today, Rocko lives a quiet life among his close friends as he works as a skilled contractor. Rocko’s upbringing was far from ideal. As a young man, Rocko was wild, adventurous, and rebellious. He began drinking and smoking while attending Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary School.

When asked about how he began smoking, he shared, “If I told you, you would not believe me. I started drinking at the age of 12.” Before he was a teenager, Rocko was smoking a pack a day without his mother or anyone else, for that matter, finding out. This did not put a stop to his life or progress. Rockco finished high school and ventured into the world. He explained that as a young man, he had encountered plenty. And as much as he has been involved in a plethora of activities and has lived life to its fullest, the only thing that has gripped him relentlessly is cigarettes.

Even drinking, he says, he can stop at any time. For nine months he stopped drinking. Rocko did not touch a bottle and he is sure he can do it again. Smoking, however, is a different story. Rocko explained during his interview that he smokes not one, or two, but four packs of cigarettes a day.

Rocko admitted that he smokes from when he wakes up to the minutes before bed. “At the end of day, I smoke four packs of cigarettes. And it is 20 in a pack. That is 80 cigarettes a day. And every day, I have to get cigarettes,” Rocko explained. The thought of eighty cigarettes a day is mind-boggling to some and right out unbelievable to others. But to Rocko, it is simply a way of life.

Every day so many additions and bad habits go unchecked. As time passes, they grow and soon become the focal point of that person’s existence. Rocko knew he was a smoker, but it was not until he went overseas to spend time with his family that he learned the true extent of his dependency on cigarettes. “I discovered I could not do without cigarettes when I went to my aunt in New York in 2019. I stayed away from cigarettes for six months,” Rocko stated.

This was difficult time of realisation for Rocko. He found it hard to cope without smoking and buying a pack was the first thing he did when he returned to Guyana. “From the time I jumped on the plane and reached Guyana, there was a restaurant at Timehri, and I bought a pack of cigarettes,” Rocko expressed.

Rocko is aware of the dangers of smoking and is feeling the effects it has on his health. As time went on, he explained that he found himself getting tired faster and breathing during work had become harder. “Smoking affects me,” Rocko shared. “For the work that I do, I make blocks and go out and work.

But sometimes when I do a certain amount of work, I have to sit down because I start breathing so hard, I have to take five.” He further added that, “I know I am not supposed to smoke. It makes me feel calm.” The feeling of calm is all worth it he says. Rocko has made countless attempts to stop smoking, but it’s a habit he simply cannot seem to lose despite his best efforts.

On World No Tobacco Day 2023, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony, in his national statement, expressed that as of 2020, the prevalence of tobacco use among adults in Guyana stood at 12.1 percent, according to the World Bank. Guyana enacted the Tobacco Control Act 2017 to adopt and implement tobacco control policies per the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Chairperson of the Presidential Commission on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs),

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, earlier this year, also called for the full implementation of the Act and higher taxes on cigarettes due to its severe health risks and levels of addiction.