If you are a youngster using drugs to forget about your problems, because of peer pressure, to be sociable or for any other reason… stop.

CHITRA BODASING

Le Roux said, “Drugs that af-fect the brain do so by chang-ing the brain’s chemistry. “The brain adapts to the drug which means it will need more of the chemical each time as the user attempts to repro-duce the first high. “Long-term or severe abuse of chemical substances may cause major physical and emotional harm to the body. Long-term effects may include damage to almost all the organs, neurological disorders and adverse effects on the central nervous system.”Over time, continued use leads to reduced motor skills and verbal abilities and could

permanently affect the learn-ing abilities of the user, espe-cially when they start using at an early age. “They may also suffer mal-nutrition, gum disease, tooth loss, frequent nose bleeds, deep chest coughs and poten-tially fatal conditions.“With drug addiction, preven-tion is always better than cure. “By the time people get to SANCA their lives are unman-ageable and their physical and mental health is usually poor. “Parents and other people need to talk to children about drug abuse early,” said Le Roux.

Why you should quit drugs Not only could you suffer physical and emotional harm but you could also end up dead or hurt someone else. The use and abuse of legal and illegal substances among youth in South Africa is of major concern. The age at which children are becoming exposed to drugs is far younger now than before.According to Louina le Roux, the South African National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence (SANCA) National Co-ordinator, the number of youngsters using drugs as well as the range of illegal drugs available to them is increasing. The use of alcohol among young-sters has also become a way of life and most social activities revolve around the use of alcohol. During the 2014/2015 reporting year, 22 percent of the number of people in treatment at SANCA centres were between the ages of 14 and 17. According to Le Roux, the primary drugs of choice are dagga and alco-hol followed by heroin/opiates. “The trend to use mixed drugs such as Nyaope is prevalent in Gauteng and Mpumalanga and of equal concern. Drug usage also depends to a cer-tain extent on area,” said Le Roux.

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Having counselled a number of parents, Henning Jacobs, the trauma support co-ordina-tor at ER24, said, “Children must know that their choice to use drugs influences everyone they love and care for. For a parent, finding out that their child is on drugs is devastating. After finding out, parents are in a state of shock. Parents experience anger, sadness, hurt, fear and frustration. They feel betrayed by their own children.” The emotional impact on parents is immense and this influences their jobs, physical and mental health and family

responsibilities. If there are siblings, they are also affect-ed. Parents often have to spend less time with the other children to help the child that has a drug problem. “That can make the other children feel like they are being punished or neglected even though they did nothing wrong. This causes turmoil.“The family joy fades away. Family members almost drift apart from each other. “The whole dynamics of the family changes. Even when the child is ‘clean’, there will be fear of a relapse,” said Jacobs.

Jacobs said the best thing any parent can do is support and love their children uncondi-tionally. “Coming out of the addiction is difficult and many children in the past stated the only thing that helped them was love from their parents. It is difficult for parents to shower their children with love after finding out about their addiction. However, it can help. The problem is also that parents often want a quick result and demand children get over the addiction. There will be

occasions when parents think about giving up. They should not,” said Jacobs. He urged parents not to use fear or an-ger to help the child get over their drug addiction. “Anger and fear will only fuel the addiction. Rehabs and drug centres are there to attend to the child’s addiction through professional meth-ods. What the child needs from parents is support and love,” he said. ER24’s Emer-gency Contact Centre can be reached 24 hours a day on 084 124.

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