News feature by Khaled Al-Shimmari

KUWAIT, Dec 29 (KUNA) -- Muآ'sad and Shafi might be pseudonyms used in this particular story as a cautionary tale against narcotics use, but the fact of the matter is, drug addiction is real and if not dealt with swiftly, it has a hefty price. Fortunately for the Muآ'sad and Shafiآ's, the story did not end in doom and gloom, on the contrary, Musآ'ad -- the youngest -- help his older brother Shafi to beat drugs, becoming brothers in arms against a particular addiction to Captagon. Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine, had wrecked the life of Shafi, 42, who at the lowest point in his life phone-called his brother Muآ'sad, begging him to save him from his demons. 'Come and help Iآ'm fed up with life,' those words thundered in the mind of young Muآ'sad as he raced towards his older brotherآ's house. To Muآ'sad, the road to where Shafiآ's house felt like a journey of 20 years rather than 20 minutes. The scene when Muآ'sad entered Shafiآ's room was surreal. As soon as he illuminated the room, Shafi -- a skeletal figure by then -- came in beseeching Musآ'ad to find him a solution. 'I want to be normal again' my life is not worth living anymore,' was one of the many, many sentences uttered, but what shook Muآ'sad to his very core was the word 'Captagon.' This highly addictive drug had wreaked havoc and caused Shafi to lose everything his wife, children, family and much more, At this very point, Muآ'sad hugged his brother and said to him 'we will beat this together.' Shafi replied, 'Can I After years of abuse?' The cliche would be of a montage that sees Shafi recovering from addiction at the speed of light, but as this story is being written, Shafi had only begun his baby steps towards recovery after visiting Kuwaitآ's addiction treatment center. This particular story might be abbreviated for the purposes of the current Kuwait anti-drug campaign; however, the pattern of falling into addiction via the influence of bad company and lack of moral guidance is almost universal when it came to addiction. Nevertheless, Captagon in specific had been plaguing Kuwaiti youths for one reason or another. Therapist Maitham Al-Ustath of the addiction treatment center said that this drug, Captagon is an auditory and visual hallucinogen that for some odd reason had sunk its fangs in Kuwait and as for addicts; God only knows why people abuse this brand of narcotics. In the case of Shafi, Captagon was offered by a so-called 'buddy' to alleviate his depression, but unknowingly to him, it was the pill that destroy his life. For the moment, Shafi, with the help of Muآ'sad, is on the right path to redemption and hopefully, it would be added to the many stories of success concerning beating drug addiction. (end) ks.gta

MENAFN29122022000071011013ID1105364570