Druggies And A Dog Named Boots

Tumie Modise | Monday October 30, 2017 15:50

Developments are good, but the only downside is that with developments, also comes a myriad of problems, mostly copied from somewhere. In our present case, our malls and other entertainment areas are fast becoming a nuisance, places where youth now indulge in acts that are a sure one ticket to hell, if you believe in the second coming.

To say that drugs have become the major affliction of society is not stating the situation too strongly.

Drugs are officially the biggest catastrophe we have ever faced as a country, even bigger than HIV/Aids, witchcraft and traffic accidents combined.

When I was growing up, the only common ‘drug’ known and frowned upon at the time was glue. It was easy to spot a glue sniffer, unlike alcoholics; glue sniffers mostly keep to themselves, mind their own business and are not talkative.

These shy sniffers would then find a shade or a corner somewhere and sleep the glue off in peace. Tragically, those still alive today walk with crutches or they crawl like babies.

Drugs are apparently fashionable nowadays and the most shocking part is how easily available they are to school-going children. Word is drug pushers even sell at school gates while others now take cover behind the ever mushrooming car washes and neighbourhood tuck shops. Recently, law enforcement officers started a major drug bust operation.

The operation involved the use of a highly effective sniffer dog dubbed ‘Boots” I admit that before then, I did not know the extent of this drug problem and I know I am not the only one.

Most teens come into contact with drugs in some form or another at some point in their life. Studies show that people, especially the youth, mostly experiment with drugs as a form of rebellion, or just a need to fit in.

Last week, I watched one episode of this ongoing drug bust. I was shocked to discover that these so called ‘drug pushers’ are just normal guys we interact with on a daily basis. I admit before that I was certain that except for ‘dagga’, no local traded in hard imported drugs, which are a one way ticket to the death chamber in other countries. To my shock and horror, these pushers are people we know; the guy you meet daily up your street sucking a lollipop, guys you even see at church every week.

The only suspicious thing about them they never have no traceable work references but appear to live decent lives, even more than some of us who work 300 days a year, but are only paid 12 times in a year.

Which then begs the question, are parents, guardians and even landlords never alarmed whenever they see these loafers, who appear to do nothing, but can afford a life most of us can’t?

What drug users may not realise is that ultimately every action has a consequence. Drug addiction and use have dire consequences. If you don’t end up dead, you end in jail or some mental institution where you sit there all day playing with soft toys in your 50s. Yes, in the long run drugs mess up with your mind like that. You start being bosom buddies with ants and flies. Prolonged depression is also common with druggies, leaving them susceptible for more destructive behaviours.

Busts and boots aside, drug use in schools is very scary. Having said that, alcohol abuse is as old as prostitution.

At my high school, boys in my class regularly bunked classes, sneaking out of school through a hole they had made on the fence. Every time the school mended the fence to close the hole, students would make an even bigger hole few hours later.

The school gave up when the hole was now big enough for a truck to go through. When the boys returned to class, and it was usually closer to lunch hour, they would come back reeking of alcohol.

They would then mesmerize us with stories of life outside the school fence, how the shebeen queen near the school named ‘Mma cracklady” served them the most chilled Chibuku ever while sitting in her ‘sofas’.

A pint of Chibuku was all they could afford only you did not want to be anywhere near them once they start burping. I wonder whether that shebeen is still there near Seepapitso senior.

My prayers go to Boots and his handlers as they continue sniffing out drug peddlers. How this dog can sniff so much drugs and not get high itself remains the greatest mystery of 2017.