The ice age
By Akhtar Rasool Khan (University of Peshawar)
The epidemic of drug abuse had been at its peak in the recent past but now it has exceeded the limits. Initially, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hashish were prominent drugs consumed by people, especially in dance parties and by drivers etc. But in the contemporary era the invention of meth crystal has brought a revolution: it’s cheap as it is available for Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 a packet making it accessible to students. The small bitter pill or powder is three time more potent than cocaine and heroin and the consumer gains immense energy which enables them to work for 24 to 48 hours without break.
The birth of meth crystal is traced to Japanese society. During the World War 2 the use of meth crystal increased among soldiers because they used it as a neuron suppressor to mitigate the hesitation among the troops. It is believed now that to conduct the Kamikaze suicide mission of Japanese military aviation, the crews were given doses of crystal meth. Since then the use of crystal meth has spread like a jungle fire among the masses.
In our society, it is sold and consumed mostly in educational institutes. Students with poor academic performance or those who feel burden of studies prefer to meth crystal because it can work on our neurons by releasing more dopamine, which makes them feel happy for a specific period of time.
After this duration of unconscious state, they feel depressed and are prone to anxiety. It has been seen that ice consumers have feeling of suicide, they feel cut-off from the outside world, vandalism as a result of aggression, harming their own selves and robbery when they have no money to buy the drug etc.
This looming social problem can be mitigated by having strong check on educational institutions, by effective working of anti-narcotics forces and facilitating educational institutions with recreational facilities etc.