By Surihe Gaomas
WINDHOEK
“If you haven’t tasted drugs and alcohol, don’t start please. With just one zol (cigarette) you will be hooked for life. So please guys, stop abusing drugs and alcohol immediately”.
These were the words of an ex-drug addict when he addressed young people recently. Rehabilitated drug addict, Peter Burger, addressed the youth at the commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
He started smoking and drinking as a teenager. Burger, like many of his peers, thought it was just “cool” to carry on that way. “I first started with a cigarette and later moved onto using alcohol, dagga and mandrax,” he said as he reflected upon his days at the David Bezuidenhoudt High School.
It was peer pressure that pushed him into the addictive cycle of substance-abuse.
At the time, it was a way for him to be “accepted” into the gang of friends he socialized with on a daily basis.
“They call you either moffie or gay. They used to tell me a man is made to drink and smoke, so if you don’t, then you are not a man,” added the man now aged thirty.
He says, once you try mandrax more than twice, you are hooked. Sadly, this was his fate not only with this drug, but more so with dagga and alcohol.
“I did not like using mandrax so much because it made me feel “dead” and non-active. And for a big man like me to be “dead” like that, was not on,” he said.
Whilst at school Burger was a good rugby player, but his addiction to drugs caused him to be kicked out of the team. His grades also went backwards as he fell behind with his studies.
“The drugs affected my lungs and muscles, so I lost my place in the rugby team. I even used to forget ten percent of the things I studied at school, and for all three major subjects in matric I got a U. In my opinion U is for useless,” he said.
Yet, with prayers and living a Christian life, Burger managed to turn over a new leaf. He has successfully remained sober for the past seven years.
Now married with three children, Burger works as an inspirational talker for young drug addicts at the Etegemeno Rehabilitation Centre in Windhoek.
As much as he tries to remain strong for the sake of his family, he still feels the negative side effects the drugs have had on his life.
“Sometimes I look at my life and I see that because I don’t have a proper job with a good salary at the end of the month, I can’t even afford a bicycle for my children, because my budget is very tight,” he added.
Burger advises the Namibian youth not to misuse the opportunities they have in developing themselves into responsible and productive citizens.
“Please guys, stop abusing drugs and alcohol. It is not worth it at all.
“Its not even worth your future either. So please, if you are already hooked there is hope, and if you are committed you can get over it by admitting you have a problem, and seek help.”