Have teenagers nowadays lost their humanity? Have they made Nyaope their god? Nyaope is a very serious topic all around South Africa especially in teenagers. And everyone starts by saying “It’s just ONE PULL, I want to know what it feels like.” That “one pull” escalates to smoking a whole joint and also into addiction.

That one pull can make you fit in with the “cool” kids, and all in the name of being free. They all start with just weed and when they think they’re too “cool” for weed, they decide to go for something stronger, not knowing they are ruining their lives in the process. Not really knowing they are getting addicted, they begin to smoke frequently.

Some might just think it’s just one pull and it can’t hurt, knowing very well it is addictive. And that takes them from one pull to many pulls. Nyaope can break many relationships; it can make you change your behavior. Now even in schools all around South Africa many children bunk and smoke during school hours. And one can ask, do their parents know about this? Did children of today suddenly loose respect? Or are they too “cool” to care?

Nyaope has contributed to the increase of crime in our townships. The urge for the next pull is so strong that they start to steal for it because they have no money to buy. Many families are broken and fights are frequent. It’s a vicious cycle; once Nyaope is out of the system, the only worry is for that next “pull”.

Nyaope is a cause of many deaths in South Africa. Some actually land in hospitals, some try to stop and get their lives together while others don’t care and carry on smoking. In my opinion it really does make them forget; makes them forget that there are still people who care about them. But they don’t seem to care; Nyaope is all they think about.

In most communities/townships you get people walking around with a joint in their hands, not caring about the elderly that are around. Not caring about the image they are painting for the smaller children who might see them as role models. They sometimes take advantage of the fact that they are role models and convince small kids to also take just ‘ONE PULL’.

I commend those who are really trying to change their lives. Those who figured out that there is life after Nyaope, that they don’t need Nyaope to survive because we as a community can and will help them get their live back on track.

Everyone should work together in making South Africa a better place. We need to fight this drug problem as a united front; everyone’s contribution can get us through this as one.

Whatever you are going through know that you don’t need drugs to be cool. And with this I raise my voice and I say ‘NO’ to drugs.

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Tell us: Do you know of someone who beat the addiction? How did they do it?