AS a parent, I have wrestled with the beast of drug addiction. I have covered medical papers in search of applicable answers. I have found data descriptions of its impact on the brain, the nervous system and its effects on the body with age, based on how the addict, on his/her own, sleeps in the open or in a drug yard with other addicts infested by other illnesses. But especially by those who are particularly affected by direct exposure to weather and infected surroundings. It’s an overburden on a citizen not directly in the medical field or without millions in the bank, allowing for disposable investment in addicted relative/s but seeking answers from imposing casualties of this infection that cannot be avoided. Casual observation of the twisted shapes of addicts upon queering with some victims who may have been colleagues of past times did produce relative and logical attention to clarify guesswork with logic.

The substances now sold to victims are chemically adjusted to sustain addiction. The victims are numerous. Strange new faces are common, especially younger ones. The real victims, however, are the parents, guardians and siblings who care. I have no data on this following observation, but I believe that the character who embodied two personas – Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – from Robert Stevenson’s 1886 classic novel may have been an addict. This conclusion I arrived at emerged from the conflicting, extreme personalities I have witnessed on my own turf and from the many reports from families who lost loved ones at the hands of addicted kin in Guyana.
There is one contention of whether an addict can forgive himself/herself for his/her severe indulgence in crack cocaine, marijuana or alcohol and reconstruct a reality of breaking free — to step into the next day, a starting over, which will be based on that person’s mental and spiritual strength to not judge one’s self against peers that have gone ahead, and thus, proceed to create a false victim persona in confrontation with the guilt of time lost, that can lead down the slope of relapse. Even a traumatic self-imposed experience of yesterday can prove an asset if re-explored, using all the elements of what was learned as tools for a better understanding of the mood that will guide the next steps forward and, if allied to a teaching platform, can help others in need.

I spoke to a teacher recently who alerted me to the fact that other stuff like molly- MDMA has been introduced to students in Guyana. This is also a life-damming drug that can mirror cocaine in its effect. What is evident is that our livelihood has become contentious. The teacher also enquired if the thing we did in the past is still active. She was referring to RESCU; some colleagues and I used to visit schools talking about the effects of Drugs on the mind. We did this with some folks from the Ministry of Education on occasions.

We didn’t get the support, and people drifted on. But I assured her that, in the future, if needed, I would be willing to revisit that programme because my consciousness is still alert.