At age 13, Hagar – not her real name – took a liking for alcohol and hard drugs, thus set fire to her life.
The desire to escape life’s challenges coupled with peer pressure led Hagar down this perilous path of multiple substance abuse.
What began as an experimental curiosity has now left her vulnerable to smoking and drinking alcohol each passing day.
The 25-year-old mother of three says her life has regrettably hit a rock bottom but is ready to end her addiction and turn her life around.
“I take tramadol and a whole lot of drugs and smoke excessively,” she recounted how her “bad” friends initiated her into the act.
Some of those friends, she says, have passed on after they developed organ failures among other sicknesses.
Full of tears and trembling with emotion, the 25-year-old single mother says she is tired of being controlled by drugs and alcohol.
She now feels trapped and powerless.
“The life I am in is not good. If I were your sister, would you be proud of me? I have three kids; if they grow to find out their mother smokes, how would they feel?” she quizzed.
Hagar’s education ended at Junior High School (JHS) level.
With no formal job, she sometimes washes cars to feed herself and her 3 children.
“25-year-old girl; I am not married but I have three children because of the path I took. Right now, I am bearing the consequences of my own deeds,” she stated regrettably.
Drug abuse and addiction
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disorder that comes with adverse consequences.
In Ghana’s capital of Accra, drug and alcohol addiction is gradually becoming an accepted reality.
The Addictive Diseases Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital alone records not less than seven cases monthly among the youth.
“For me, addiction is an emergency because when they [addicts] get to that level, anything can happen to them at anytime. The admissions we are having now are about youth that are coming up with cannabis psychosis.”
“When they come, they are not even stable. Sometimes, we have to engage the police to bring them because they start misbehaving at home just because of cannabis,” Charles Kwakye Osei, the Head of the Addictive Diseases Unit at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, disclosed.
The drug rehab process comes at a cost, with some facilities charging at least 6,000 cedis per month.
“There are other things like trying to find out the options of treatment – whether the person needs outpatient services or inpatient ones.”
“It’s possible the person may strike some gains as an inpatient where they stay there for a minimum of three months. But the outpatient that we have here goes for a minimum of four months,” Osei added.
A mother’s pain
Hagar’s mother could not control her emotions when I asked her about how she is taking care of the daughter.
She pleaded for help to limit her burden.
“I usually break down whenever I see her in this situation. I have five children and Hagar is my only daughter. Being a lady, it was my expectation that she’d grow to help me.”
“However, she is rather compounding my burdens and producing babies for me. We need urgent help to transform her life,” she pleaded.
Amid the darkness of addiction, a glimmer of hope has emerged.
Hagar has made a courageous decision to seek help.
“I have made up my mind to change but it’s very difficult. If you were in my shoes and experienced what I am going through, you would have understood my condition better.”
“I am not like this. What I am doing now I can die in it and I am not ready to die so I need to change,” Hagar stated.
Unit Head of the Korle-Bu Addictive Diseases Unit, Charles Osei, says with support, Hagar can begin her journey to recovery.
Her story underscores the dangers of drug abuse and its impact on the wellbeing of people in the society.
If her story touches you, do not hesitate to extend a helping hand to change her life for the better.
