Colossium Magazine March Issue_2019 | Page 64

I have been ‘high’ before. I know the feeling. It’s a great feeling. You never want it to stop. Many call it addiction; I like to think of it as you enjoying nothing but yourself within that brief moment. And why shouldn’t that be? There isn’t much going on in our part of the world. Depression is on the record high and we don’t need experts to breakdown the stats to us. We have eyes; we can see how depressed people are these days. People just need to get away from these negative ‘vibes’. Traveling out of the country to relax isn’t part of the bucket list of many Ghanaians – they can hardly feed themselves thrice a day. Weed – Codeine – Tramadol – now they’re getting ‘high’ on Glue…how exactly does that work? The rate of hardship and lack of jobs are con- tributing factors to people abusing drugs and substances. What else can keep them occupied and happy at the same time? Most often soci- ety looks at the abuses rather than the causes or influences of the abuses. What will make a person take up alcoholism? I am not talking about an occasional drinker. I’m referring the individual who finds solace in a gin bottle. A trip to the suburbs of Osu specifically some part of the coastal area and one will be welcomed by a sight of hopelessness and depression. On my first visit to the place, I asked myself if these people are also Ghanaians and if they have representatives in parliament. I wondered as I enjoyed the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean which borders us as a country. These people appear to be in a world of their own. What is their primary source of livelihood? Prostitu- tion and drug peddling. Don’t be quick to draw 64 | Colossium . March 2019 discriminative lines. This is the life they know. They have not been given many options to choose from. You can say it is a hub for crimi- nal activities but be mindful of the fact that not all of them are criminals. E ducation has become a prerequisite for everything in today’s society yet the majority of us are not educated. We live in a country that has a very high illiteracy rate, yet we make it difficult for the less privileged to have their fair share of the national cake based on education. We have modeled our economy on educational lines such that those below the lines are left to the mercy of fate. Our society is so segregated even religious people dare not to get close to people who live in the so-called ‘ghettos’. You seize to be relevant to society if or when you live in these designated places. These people who are mostly in their youth have 24hrs a day of free time wasting away on drugs. This is not to say they choose to do drugs – they simply have nothing to do. At Shatta Beach, Jamestown; I sat next to a friend who had about 4 bottles of codeine cough syrup in front of him. He then pulls out a ball-like sub- stance from his pocket. When I enquired about it, he said “asheeze”. He intoxicated himself in my presence with impudence. Five minutes lat- er, he would bow his head down in a sleeping posture but he’s not asleep. Another factor I will like to consider is peer pressure and media influence. Peers are basic yet the most influential people close to us. Peers have such great influence, they can either lead us to glory or gory. In as much as we have our own minds, we sometimes rely on the opinions