You say ‘drug addicts’ but mental health experts would rather you call them People Living With Substance Use’ Disorder (PLWSUD).

Liken drug addicts to patients or addiction to a disease, maybe cancer.
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If we won’t blame anyone for having to live with cancer, we mustn’t blame people living with drug addiction. In any case, some of them ended up doing drugs due to no fault of theirs.
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I saw this first-hand after 10 days of cohabiting with drug users during my undercover investigation at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba (derogatorily called ‘Yaba Left’).
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I remember this boy from the East who was driven to drugs by a string of events triggered by a bike accident that damaged one of his legs.
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His early treatment days came with excruciating pain, but there was this day the doctor administered a pain-relieving drug that worked! After sleeping well that day and waking up feeling nice, he self-prescribed the drug and that was the start of his slide into drug abuse.
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He began to use it without a prescription. Then he roved from one drug to another in search of a new level of ‘high’. That boy could have been you. Or me.
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There are drug patients who genuinely want to quit but are struggling. One guy, his uncle had visited him at home and was shocked to see how his property collection had shrunk. TV, sold. Settee, sold. Refrigerator, sold. Generator, gone.
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We must view drug abusers as people who’re neck-deep in a genuine struggle and badly need our help. But how can we help them if we don’t seek better knowledge about their condition? How can we prevent those who have never tried any substance from having the first taste?
8/10

On Friday, June 26, 2020, @mtnng in partnership with @businessdayng @mtvbasewest @theNETng will host an extensive knowledge-sharing event - #DrugConvos - as part of its anti-substance movement #MTNASAP.
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It is free for all but registration is mandatory https://www.eventbrite.com/e/better-knowledge-for-better-care-mental-health-an-ally-against-drug-abuse-tickets-110270255302

The#DrugConvos has a packed roster with stakeholders from entertainment, health and rehabilitation, religion, etc. It will be interesting to see the insights they will share.
#MTNASAP
#FactsForSolidarity
10/10