THE LOW POINTS OF GETTING 'HIGH'

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Everybody abuses drugs here in Nigeria; we are our own doctors! A friend complains to his other friend that his head aches and the other friend who has no medical knowledge whatsoever starts prescribing for him, ''emmmm. . .take 2 paracetamol tablets,and emmm. . .vitamin . . .'' hahaha. I've been guilty of this a couple of times too, but recently I'm trying to change.

The last time I was under the weather, I made sure I ran some tests to know what exactly was wrong with my body system before getting a prescription from the doctor, and then I went to the pharmacist to get the pills I need. This is how it is supposed to be! Pharmacists are meant to disburse drugs in line with prescription from the doctor, but then in our beloved Nigeria is it everyone that runs a pharmacy that is a pharmacist? Some people just do it for business, and in these days of job scarcity, you can find a doctor working in the bank, and a lawyer teaching in the classroom  This is the situation we find ourselves in, it's just sad.

Apart from the habit we've formed, I think another reason we abuse drugs in Nigeria is because, the cost for good health care is really high. Most doctors have turned business men, and the corrupt government yet refuses to pass a health bill. The general hospitals that are quite affordable have no equipment! And then our porous borders keep accommodating substandard drugs. So somehow, I don't even blame the village farmer who feels headache and runs to swallow two tablets without prescription because, it's just not his fault. The system has squeezed all of us in, people trust more in God now than in any drug. May God help us.

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When you talk about drugs, your mind also goes to addiction. People who inject themselves or sniff something just to get 'high'. Addictions can stop only when they have something to channel that initial emptiness they felt before becoming addicted. They need a will and self control, coupled with time to eliminate that addiction, and this therapy is not just for drug addicts, it to extends to every other addiction.

All these people selling 'drugs'--heroine, etc--should understand that, that 'highness' lasts for only a while. The end thereof is destruction! Don't do drugs! Stop prescribing tablets for yourself too  charle!