Hooked On Red, Swallowed Into Euphoria: When Drugs Become The Problem Instead Of Solution.

Whether for addressing health concerns or taken for pleasure the use of drugs is one of the age old practices of humanity, but when this practice tend to become a worry and pose threat to our very existence then there is the need to act to mitigate the threats crawling their way into our home, the cause for worry even becomes great when the state seems to do little to nothing to address the storm hanging treacherously on the ceiling of the future as the future generation is sacrificed on campaigns that are a flash in a pan.

Drugs can be said to “any substance (other than food) that is used to prevent, diagnose, treat, or relieve symptoms of a disease or abnormal conditions.” “Drugs can also affect how the brain and the rest of the body work and cause changes in mood.” These drugs are called psychoactive drugs and they are defined by WHO as substances that, when taken in or administered into one’s system, affect mental processes, e.g. perception, consciousness, cognition or mood and emotions. So, in effect as one takes drug to fight off a disease or a condition, some of these drugs acts on the brain to create a sense of perceptual distortment which can be euphoria, hallucination, anxiety and many other perceptual errors. And these perceptual errors especially the euphoria and hallucination has somehow got a lot of us hooked on RED, for the purpose of this piece Red refers to all drugs whether opioids or not, and other substances abused in order to get high. Reds the opioids, “are a class of drugs that are derived from, or mimic, natural substances found in the opium poppy plant.” They are meant to be used as treatment for moderate to severe pains, suppression of diarrhoea and cough. But, users have found a new occupation for the drug (and it has even forgotten the reasons for which it was created) which is using it for the purpose getting high, and to maintain the same level of high one need to continuously take the drug in excess and it leads to drug abuse.

As we know, drug abuse is “the use of illegal drugs or the use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs for purpose other than those for which they are meant to be used, or in excess amount.” As stated earlier, Red is abused because of the high it gives, and to maintain the same or higher levels of high or one needs to take in excess amounts of it, and it can lead to Opioids Use Disorder (OUD), which is the chronic use of opioid that causes clinically distress or impairment, and it is characterised by overpowering desire to use opioids, increased opioids tolerance and withdrawal syndrome (when the use of Red is discontinued or reduced). When this happens, the Red user becomes addicted and physically dependant on the drug, this is because, “opioids bind to and activate the opioid receptors on cells located in the brain, spinal cord, and other organs in the body, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure, producing morphine-like effects like pain relief and strongly reinforce the act of taking the drug.” This explains the euphoria feeling that is associated with taking Red, and with this euphoria feeling coupled with the pain relieving attributes and the addictive nature of Red those who tend to take it for pleasure ends up hooked on it. Again, opioids, have anesthetic properties and are used in anesthesia and this explains why Red addicts tend to sleep even when they are standing, eating or even walking, because, continuous usage tend to sedate the body. Some of the long term effect of Red are: coughing, itchiness, nausea, constipation, respiratory depression, dry mouth among others. Ironical effects of Red are increased pain sensitivity, low sexual hormone and it sometimes interfere with menstruation (a drug that is taken to reduce pain and supposedly increase libido doing the opposite rather).

The following are some of the Reds that are abused, the list goes on and on: opioids like tramadol (Red 225), codeine, morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl, and heroin. Weeds (marijuana), achiki (weeds toffee), weeds biscuit, and laka (weeds and akpeteshie (local gin) bitters. Cocaine, energy drink mixed with either Tom Tom or tramadol, energy drink mixed with weeds, inhaling turpentine, inhaling superglue, inhaling the smoke from dried grinded human excreta. Fa mu d3 (a mixture of akpeteshie, tramadol and weeds toffee), snuff infused with weeds and others.

There are a lot of reasons why people take Red and some are: as a mean to escape societal pressure, peer influencing, some too due to unemployment situations, it is an escape route out of personal or social problems, and others take it for recreational purposes, while others take it as sex enhancing drug.

People who are hooked on Red are prone to social vices like theft and sexual promiscuity, this happens because those hooked on Red needs their daily dosages to maintain their optimal functioning because, they are physically and mentally dependant on it and without it they cannot function, they do anything and everything to get money to buy some. This leads to spread of STI’s, sexual exploitations, mental breakdowns, again, continuous use of Red and associates can lead to respiratory issues, heart failures, kidney and liver disease (multiple organ failure), and even death. It is true that the youth are majority of Red users, but they are not the only people hooked on it, there are adults who are also addicts, the sad part is that we have security agents who are also caught in the net of Red abuse. Schools are now one of the fertile breeding grounds for Red and associates abuse.

The Red abuse wave is war we need to fight from all angles lest, we are breeding a generation of madness and dysfunctional future. The issue should be treated as a pandemic and affordable rehabilitation centres should be built across the country with easy access to it, while education on the dangers of drug abuse should be consciously made part of our daily lifestyle as a country, as we enact laws that deal with influx of contraband drugs that has influx our country and taken our communities by storm. Parents, should also make it a point to be a part of their children’s daily lives as they guide them in the choices they make, and the friends they keep. Red abuse started off as a onetime (just a swallow of a pill) type of event then it graduated to the point where we cannot function (hooked on the pills) without it. At first we swallowed the pill to get well, but now the pill is now swallowing us and gnawing away our future, and it will take all of our efforts to unhook ourselves from euphoria.

Koffi Adu Flair Demigod
@ 04/06/25.