“I was a student at a Federal College of Education then, living on campus. Every weekend, a friend who lived off-campus would bring bottles of cough syrup and my friends would take it and sleep like babies. I later took an interest and started taking it too. Although some of them used other drugs, cough syrup was my only choice. When my parents found out, they ordered my return home. That was the best decision because my parents placed me under close monitoring, which helped me stop the addiction. Another effective step they took was separating me from my friends. I have stopped now, and I don’t think I will ever go back to it,” she said.
This was the revelation of Maryam Sani, who is now rehabilitated. She said she was pushed into substance abuse out of depression and frustration. She explained that most women involved in drug use were usually frustrated or depressed.
“It is either through frustration or depression that some women begin to take drugs for relief, and before they know it, they are addicted. For younger girls, their boyfriends usually introduce them to drugs, especially when parents are not paying attention to what their daughters are doing or who they associate with. The situation requires parental vigilance, as well as God’s protection,” she said.
Drug abuse has been of growing concern for families, society, and to a larger extent, the authorities. This growing burden has become overwhelming and taken various degrees of toll on the affected persons, with concerns becoming more vocal and strategic.
Weekend Trust spotlights some of the issues that have pushed women, especially married ones, into this downward trend. Speaking under anonymity, Hafsatu Idi (real name withheld), narrated her ordeal on how her life changed after meeting an older woman in Lagos. Idi said that at 22, she began taking hormonal drugs that flattened her breasts because she wanted to appear more masculine.
“I told them that I was a man, not a woman and begged to be taken to the male facility,” she said.
Read more: https://dailytrust.com/depression-failed-marriages-fuel-drug-abuse-among-women/
