[ CI Mannou ]
Associated with the living traditions, I recount the development of the generations in our district, Namsai. Villages and towns around the district are likely to gain a reputation for drug usage as the population in the district continues to grow. A lot of rehabs are trying to keep up with the flow of addicts to bring them back into the healthy productive lifestyles amidst high expectation, but the situation is getting out of control.
The menace of drugs has penetrated deep into the structure of our society as the effects reach our youths and put the district’s future generation in peril.
It is seen that youngsters are struggling with addiction more than ever before. Peer pressure, adolescent immaturity and irresponsible parenting make up the three main reasons which lure the youths towards addiction and thus create a life of suffering and regret.
Hailing from Chongkham, my concern is my district and my state. My passion for writing this is about new people from all walks of life. Understanding and studying the human race is very fascinating. In this process, what captures my attention are drugs and opium abuse in the district. It is found that the drug menace is a plague which is not only contagious but, if not detected and controlled, may spread like a wildfire.
Drug abuse in the district is not only among youngsters from the elite circle who are hooked to drugs, but the stranger segment is growing extremely fast, creating an appetite and emerging in the market as drug dealers. They are found in every nook and corner of the villages and the towns, in disguise as friends, acquaintances, relatives and even spouses. They are from any profession and background.
The drug peddlers in the villages are intensely self-centred. They neither love nor care about anybody. That is why they go ahead with the greed of earning a huge income by ruining the lives of others. I am wondering why our youths are becoming addicts. We should start asking ourselves how to solve the problem and take steps to stop selling drugs. We should not just try to put out a raging fire by merely sprinkling water on it.
In the villages and towns, boys and girls of our generation and even a few elder ones think that consuming drugs in any form is very much in vogue. God only knows where this myth of the modern has come from. They blindly follow without any concrete knowledge of what the word ‘modernity’ means. Attending a rave party has become a style for many.
However, all who consume drugs are not addicts. Some are occasional consumers. But they don’t know that they could eventually get dependent on opiate substances, which will affect their bodies and minds someday. Their mood swings can be disturbing for their friends and family and when high, one will be dangerous, which is not a good sign. A person who takes drugs always justifies it and it is useless to debate with them as to why drugs can be bad for them. Drug addicts always have a reason and answer to why they take drugs. People who take drugs are not bad; they just have a bad habit. So, we should not ignore and avoid them, rather change them with love and care.
Solving this problem won’t be easy, but the solution can come in the form of better de-addiction centres. And addicts’ friends who are non-drug abusers should not judge but counsel them.
The solution to the drug problem lies in the willpower of the young. So, with modern education, we should allocate more time to the students’ studies, sports and career-building by imparting knowledge to join hands in eradicating the peril of the society. Families should also remain positive. Besides, we should also exercise moral power – the power to instill idealism among hundreds of drugs abusers. So, we must therefore control and eliminate the menace of drug usage before youths are caught in the whirlpool of drugs. (CI Mannou is a retired principal based in Chongkham)
