MHA Webinar Episode 38:Discovering the creative ways children are abusing drugs.

0:00 Nothing may change my life, but nothing's going to change my love for you. Yes. Uh good afternoon everyone. Um I hope you are all doing very well and uh we had some rains this morning in Ara here and uh the weather is a bit cool. I don't know about other

0:46 parts of the country and other parts of the world but we are okay in Ara here. um a warm welcome to to this virtual seminar that we do at the end of this month. Today's session is to commemorate the international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. It was celebrated under the team, the evidence is clear. Invest in prevention. Break the cycle. # stop organized crime. Um, evidence is that

1:32 black trafficking is increasing and creating a lot of problems including crime, impacting on development, health care systems are weakening and all that. What it calls for is to invest more in in prevention looking at justice, education, healthcare and alternative livelihoods. All these attempt as a building blocks to to impact on sustainable resilience

2:17 for us here. Uh, not too long ago, we saw a video on social media, both young men and women. The sad aspect, we saw young women in school uniforms who had allegedly or supposedly taken some drugs and they were in a ded state. It was quite sad to watch. And this trend is growing. This trend is growing. hither to when we talked about drug abuse. We talked about the ghettos and those who looked unckempt with their hair and all that. But the recent evidence shows

3:05 that our young men and women, children and adolescents have adopted more creative ways of indulging in illicit drugs and its use. And now because it has become a worldwide business, the trafficking of these drugs and its use as well as its accessibility has heightened. And so we have a public health crisis on hand which overall is affecting our security, our safety as well as our development. So looking at this building blocks, we

3:51 chose to look at education. And so for today, we decided to look at the topic discovering the creative ways in which our children are abusing drugs and what parents what protective strategies they can adopt to to uh deal with the situation. So we are hoping that at the end of this session we'll be able to know uh the ways these creative ways which we we we are yet to be introduced to we may know some of them and act of fact when our facilitators are done discussing that bit I would open that

4:36 I would open the floor and ask participants if you are aware about a way which it was not mentioned just for that one minute or two minutes for you also to share your perspective about that we would also would learn the signs and symptoms the warning signs if our children are have started engaging in drugs indulging in drugs and its use would know uh what communication strategies that we have to adopt how we have to monitor them to way to know if something is going wrong and also the essence of seeking for help. So this would be our objective for

5:21 today. Um as usual we are going to discuss mental health issues. So I plead with you if you get the opportunity to make a comment, ask a question, be as sensitive as you can be. being on judgmental in your presentation. Those of us who are not familiar with the mental health authority call center helpline, the number is 0800678. 0800678 is a 247 call center that people can get psychological first aid.

6:08 That's by way of housekeeping. So permit me to introduce my guest for today. Uh let me start with the woman ladies first. So my first guest is Miss Gloria Ayaba Iguazi. She is a mental health professional as a clinical health psychologist with experience in both health and educational sectors. She works with children, adolescents and adults and she also consults for NOS's such as the Mental Pulse Africa and currently a member of the international school counselors association and outside of academia she loves her music work and dancing.

6:56 Um hello Gloria. Hi Dr. Arthur. Hi good afternoon. How have you been today? Good afternoon. Can you hear me? Hello. Yes, I can hear you. But we can hear you. I can hear you. All right. Okay. Thank you for having me. It's good to meet you. Good. It's good to see you again. Yeah. All right. Thank you for coming. Sure. Our next guest is Dr. Malisum uh he's a part-time lecturer in various institutions and currently he is the acting medical director of Pantan

7:42 hospital. Hello Dr. Maluk. Good afternoon. Good afternoon Dr. Ata. Good afternoon to you all. Happy to be here. Thank you for coming. Our next guest is Mr. Samoku Johanu. He's an addiction specialist and a counselor and currently also our head of research at the mental health authority. Mr. Hanu, good afternoon. You're welcome. Thank you very much and thank you for having me. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. Can you hear me? We heard you. Yeah. Thank you for

8:29 Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. And finally, we have Mr. John Asugande. He is a writer and an entrepreneur. He have had his brush with drug, drug misuse and drug abuse. He has survived. So, a person with lived experience and he's doing well now. has written several books which includes uh breaking up with Mary Jane and Unchained. This is a story about his experiences when it came to his his abuse of drugs and what he went through. He's also founded the first non-alcoholic bar known as the Eden Bar

9:15 in Ara here. So he's doing well for himself. He will share his personal perspectives with us. Mr. as good afternoon and you're welcome. Yeah, good afternoon. Thanks for having me. Good. Now all my facilitators and wonderful guests are here. We'll get rolling. We are about 21 minutes into time. Our Ghanaian time. My goodness. All right, Dr. Maluk, let me start with you. Basically, let's get a fair understanding of um what drug abuses. Just just just give us as warm up what is drug abuse and what drugs are commonly used uh abused now

10:03 Dr. Maluk Dr. Mal. Oh, he's back. I'm back. The link went off. Yeah, you're having you're having network issues. Eh, I'm back. The link went off a bit, but I'm back now. Yes, Dr. Kly. Go ahead. That's when you talk to me that's when it's happening. Yes. I didn't hear you. Kindly go ahead. Yes.

10:49 Dr. Ata. So in simple terms, what is drug abuse and what drugs are commonly are commonly abused in our system here? Okay. Thank you so much. And then good afternoon. The ones that we know. The ones that we know. Let's not go. We'll get to the other other new ones that are coming into the system. Thank you so much. Essentially when we say drug abuse or substance abuse as the case may be, it's essentially the use of substance or drugs by an individual, the continuous use of it by an individual despite evidence of harm to the person's

11:34 physical Malog is having technical issues, network issues, I should think. Gloria, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Would you like to take over from Dr. Maluk? No, sure. No problem. Good. So, give us a a brief a brief explanation of what is drug abuse and what the common drugs that we are using.

12:20 Dr. Look, if you can hear me, I think that when you switch off your video, it will help as well as um if you are talking. Sorry, I don't know what's happening but just when we are starting that's when please can you hear me? I'm sorry for the break here. So I was just saying that in a nutshell and drug abuse is using a substance continuously and there evidence of harm to you. I was an example of alcohol whereby the individual using the alcohol has developed a physical condition like a liver disease but still continues to use it. For example, the person the use of the alcohol has led to problems terms of his work, absentism. He's been queried. He's even been sacked from work by he or she

13:20 Dr. Maluk, may I suggest that you switch off your video? Perhaps that will help. Gloria, please take over. All right. So, as he was saying, uh it becomes an abuse when you it's

14:06 obvious that whatever you are indulging in, what substance you're indulging in is affecting you in terms of your daily activities. So if you used to go to work, if you used to have a very nice flowing life or activity, now you no longer have your job because you have probably been fired because you come to work drunk or you come to work abusing substances, looking very disheveled, looking unkempt and nothing is pretty much going well as it's supposed to go with you. So you lose your livelihood, you have family problems, you have problems with forming relationships and sustaining relationships. So it becomes clear that whatever you're indulging in is essentially affecting your life. However, you are unable to stop or u

14:52 take yourself away from the situation. So you'll probably have to be even looking at addiction and all of that and maybe that's a conversation we can have later but essentially that is it. So we have people abusing alcohol all kinds of alcohol in several means and methods and we also have pain. We also have cannabis. People usually call it weed and so on and so forth. You said the common ones, so I'm mentioning the common ones for now. Yeah. Yeah. We'll come we'll come to the more current and more sophisticated ones. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. Um let me ask the person on the ground, Mr. Hanu. So what are the current kinds of drugs that are being abused and

15:42 misused? And previously um when we talk about drug abuse all that we knew was about India him or we but now it's different and is subsequented and uh there are new ways in which our children are abusing it at least I know that now they can even sit at home and order it and they will get it. So I want you to throw more light on that for us. When you are done, I would ask Mr. Sunde to also top it up. So Mr. So you are asking the the type of drug that they using at the moment. Yes. And and what?

16:28 Yes. So yes, that's correct. And the new ways in which they are abusing it. Okay. Very well. So um um well so the new ways that they using it these days um I don't know whether we have we are we I mean we are aware about hooker and stuff and these days we also know about uh electronic cigarettes this I mean the way the cigarettes come I mean the the shape and the structure and the the way it is designed sometime it comes like a like pen so the person may for you know you think that the person may be holding a pen in in their pockets, but that could be a an instrument that they are using to to to to

17:14 use drugs. Then we also have um a number I mean a number of them have what we have what you call cocktail. So cocktail is where they um they will miss usually the the drugs you know. So for instance they can have for you know these days they have what we call banana toffee. So the banana toffee it has on the on the wrap of the toffee there's a a covering on it. What they will do is that they will bend the paper and it will be left with the foil. The foil that covers it. So all of you may be familiar with that foil. enough foil. They would usually um uh wrap it, wrap the drug around it and run

18:00 another paper around the the foil and they will light it and use another paper as a tube to inhale the the the smoke you know so um that's one of the thing the ways they are using the drug these days and um another way whether they using the drug these days is also to mix it with h bitters. So bitters like let's say um we all know bitters the the base will be alcohol but the drug that is inside the the drug like weed or marijuana. So they put it in the form of bitter so that they and what happens that there's a synergic effect. So the weed and the alcohol give some kind of a a synergic

18:46 effect that I mean they like it you know. Then they also um um the cookies form. So they do do a we can switch off your video to help to help the wheat plus the cannabis weed and the seeds. So they they fry them together and which is result in a real tea like a condensed milk to form something like a toffee and you see it in fact these days please.

19:31 Can you hear me doctor? Yes we can hear you. I was suggesting that your network is getting back. So if you would like to switch off your video that is fine. Okay. So let me switch off the video. Yeah. Yeah. Please go ahead. So I was talking about the fact that they uh so they they do the cookies form. So the cookies the same procedure they use to prepare the cookies. They also use to bake like cake. So they use so I mean it's not every cake that you see that is the normal cake. Some of them are laced with drugs. Then these days they also doing energy drinks and weed. So they put the the the wheat in energy drink and drink

20:17 it. Some of them will also advance it and want to take like something like sweet. So it comes like a a milky drink with a drug you know so that you may before you know you may think that the person is drinking a a a milk but it is less with with with weed then people are also trying so I mean our popular so that you have so please when you go out anywhere I mean some of the so that we see some of them are are laced with weed. So there was a story about a woman who went to the fridge of the the the husband had so in the fridge lays with weed. She she tried it. She thought it's a normal sool and she drank it and she explains the effect of the of the weed. Then this they also putting weed in sh you know the students

21:04 who go to a school but if you're not careful you see it as sh but it is also um h l with h weed. So these are some of the ways that they they and so they also I mean the first one I talk about was the chasing. So usually they sometimes what they'll do this this is that they'll mix a number of drugs on a on something like a spoon. Then they they light under the spoon. So like a candle not use the normal fire but they use the the something like a candle under the the spoon to heat and to mix the the the the mixture and they also inhale it. So these are various ways by which young ones of these days are using drugs and they are novel. I mean if you if you don't know they may

21:50 just out tweet you with it. You have no idea. So Dr. This is my and in fact these days we also know the one the dangerous one which is injecting drug use. So when they go out there because they want to have the the the immediate effect of the drug they they they they draw they mix the the medication and take a searing. Sometimes some of these medications are supposed to be used we are supposed to use what we call sterile water or we call it aqua in the hospitals but most of them will use ordinary to mix it and when they finish mixing it mixing it they use a se seconds.

22:47 It looks like our network is not helping us at all from all over the country. I don't know. Yeah. or something hard just so that they can get a ve and inject the then you go straight to the heart and straight to the 3 to 5 minutes they can experience the needles and syringes which can also come with its own okay so um I think that uh Mr. Hanu has mentioned quite a lot. He's mentioned the prince. He's mentioned the cocktail, banana toffee, uh mixing the drug with alcohol, uh doing cookies, biscuits, tea, cake, energy drinks, mixing them with so

23:33 having them in sh and injections. Um my my guest uh Dr. Uh Gloria and is there is there any that has been left out that has come to attention that was not mentioned? Let me start with you Dr. Maluk. Yes. So because of my own network issues which I've I've moved to a different place and I'll use a different network now. I didn't hear most of the what Mr. Hanu said. Okay. But let let me let me quickly run through them. Right. Okay. He said there were the use of the pens

24:19 cocktail. Okay. Banana toffee. Mixing them with alcohol. Mhm. The cookies. The tea. The cakes. Mixing them with energy drinks. So, in injections. Wow. I mean, so I mean I've have nothing more to really add. I mean, mixing it with Yeah. Yeah. So, that's fine. Thank you. All right. Um, Gloria, is there something that you need to add? Uh, I was wondering if we may touch on prescription drugs, drugs that have been formally prescribed but are being abused

25:06 as well. Maybe. Yes, we we'll get to that along the way. But now we are looking at ingenious ways in which they are abusing it. So they would have the prescription drug and they'll put it in an energy drink. They'll make it thick and all that. That's what we are talking about. Okay. So, one thing I came across which I found really really really weird and mindboggling but I understand is happening something they describe as but chugging. So they find a funnel rubber hose but chugging. So they that they putting the

25:52 alcohol into the rectum directly so it can have access to their bloodstreams. I mean that was so bizarre. Yeah. You know he mentioned something about having direct contact of the alcohol in the bloodstreams. So the point is to have effect immediately. So I just pictured this and I'm like whoa this is crazy. And also tampons. tampons, soak it in alcohol and then put it in the orififices which is very bizarre but yeah those are quite bizarre ones that I came across. These are ways that they are they are they are using the drugs and abusing them. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let me ask Mr. Sug John any that we've not mentioned.

26:39 Yes, I'm here. Um I mean quite frankly we've mentioned so many of them. Um what did you just mention even shocks shocks me um for them to be able to put alcohol directly into Can Gloria put the term in the chat box the back tag or back can she put in the chat box? Yes. Gloria, can you can you put the term in the in the Absolutely. Yeah. Um but speaking from Go ahead. Yeah. Um, speaking from personal experience, I think what we what we used to do when I was in school and um, still involved in drug abuse definitely were the cookies. So, we bake um, like cakes or little cookies mixed with the

27:25 marijuana leaves and then the milk. The milk that Mr. Hanu talked about, that was also something we used to do a lot because it had a very it had a good taste. It was not something that was bitter. It was just like milk, but it had um the weed inside and it was able to the potency of that mixture was was really high. So that's something we used to do as well. And then um codin, I don't know if you've mentioned codin, but codin was something that was also very common um in my time. We mix it with regular soft drink. And so when someone is holding a bottle of um fruit juice, maybe Welch or some other fruit juice, you think the person is just

28:11 drinking fruit juice, but there's coding inside there, you know, getting a person high. So yeah, those are some of the the things that I personally have experimented with. But I appreciate all the comments made. Thank you very much, John. So my dear uh parents and dear participants that is one important thing that we chose to come and know today in this session to know the new ways in which they abusing drugs is not about smoking and you you have the smell on him and all that is no these are ingenious ways. So I'll go through them again. The use of pen. He's holding an unusual pen and it's not a it's not a writing pen. You need to check mixing

29:00 them in cocktails. Making cocktails with them. Banana toffee. Mixing it with alcohol, cookies, tea, cake, energy drinks. So they are protective of this things. It should it should it should it should raise red flags for you. [ __ ] We need to advise our children not to eat somebody when they go to school. I'm afraid now injections. And the last one that John mentioned uh mixing it with regular drink. So he is holding it and you think that he's holding a regular drink but meanwhile it's laced with stuff. So now we know we know what this new

29:46 ways creative ways in which they are using that without us knowing. He so he's developed an um what do you call it a taste for cake all of a sudden. Every time he has cake in the fridge you need to find what's actually there. So um let me come to you John again. Yeah. So how how are they able to disguise the use of these drugs without us as as parents knowing? Um, I think it's it's a thing about the desire. Once once they have the desire

30:33 for it and they know that, you know, their parents finding out would lead them into trouble, they would always find a creative way of of um of taking it in. Um, I think definitely in this generation, it's become more common. So for things like marijuana, it's become so common that they don't even want to hide it anymore. But some people still have parents who are probably very strict. And so they are always thinking and it will surprise you to know that people who do drugs are some of the most creative people. Like they can spend hours just thinking of a creative way to to find access to their drugs without their parents' knowledge or without their guardians knowledge. Um yeah.

31:20 Okay. And one creative way that you did mention is just mixing it with the regular drink. So he has he has some coke in the fridge protecting his cook but meanwhile it's laced with stuff. Um Gloria how social media contributed to this development. There is all sort of things on social media nonu TV. You are welcome. I see you. Um quite interesting. we talking about social media but I I may probably even add um the traditional media our TV stations and you know and the kind of

32:06 things that are being exposed or the kind of exposure the kids get from these uh sources of information and doing these things have been glamorized very unfortunately and somehow our society has gotten to a point where this may sound quite controversial, but um the thin line between what is right and what is wrong is gradually blurring out. And so deciding that some of these things have very bad consequences. And so these are outright outrightly wrong, that conversation seems to be dwindling. So you watch movies and you see teenagers having shorts and making fun

32:55 and you know throwing their ass about and happy and excited and anybody who has access to any of these things things it's normal. So all of these things are gradually quite getting normalized. So imagine as a parent that your child has access to these sources of information and they watch these things and now you have the responsibility of instructing them that these things have consequences and the media doesn't show you that aspect. They only show you the pretty aspects of it. They only show you the nice aspects and the fun aspects and so it gets you gingered, gives you the desire, but they don't show you the consequence. they don't show you how easily you can get hooked on to these things. So

33:42 I think that uh as a parent since you're talking to parents um as much as possible we should have some structure around the use of social media and even the conversation about what to watch and what not to watch and to what extent some of these things when you watch you shouldn't allow that to get to influence you. So yeah. Okay. All right. Okay. You need to be wary of social. John, would you like to add something because we are more in the social media space. Yeah. Um she's she's very right about the media encouraging passively cuz we don't we don't hammer on some of the really really adverse

34:28 effects of these things. And um for me, I've been I've been always vocal about that. Social media in this generation has normalized so many things to make it look like it's okay. Um so for parents particularly, you you have to really monitor what your your kids are are looking up to especially with the influencers. So you you find that they are aspiring to be like someone. And I can speak from my own experience when I was growing up in secondary school in university. There were people that I I picked as my role model who were who were publicly smoking. So I thought it was it was not bad because if this guy that is my role model, maybe he drives a nice car or he's living in a nice place or he's doing nice things on social

35:13 media, if I see this person smoking online, I think it's normal because you know back in the day we used to hear that when you smoke you become mad. There was a notion about people who smoke weed becoming mad people. But here's the case, you see people on social media who are smoking and they don't look mad at least in in in front of their cameras and in their pictures. And so if you pick such a person as a role model and aspire to be like them, then it's easy for you to also fall, you know, into those habits. Yeah. So we need to we need to really guard you know who our children aspire to be who they pick as their influencers and who um the kind of content they consume online.

36:00 Okay know social media has normalized many wrong things as if it's right meanwhile it's not right and it's wrong. Um Gloria, let me come back to you. Thinking about groups, social groups on social media and the conversation we are just having when you just suppose that with the psychological needs, the social needs, the emotional needs of our children, has that influenced them into experimenting some of these drugs and its use and all that? Um yes to a very large extent I think

36:46 and if you look at it critically and taking it off from what Mr. John said about what our notion or perception was in the past about some of these behaviors and how things are now in terms of our perception about doing some of these or indulging in some of these behaviors. And one will ask psychologically is there a decline? What is happening with the psyche in terms of our understanding or the foundation for which we are driven to act or behave in certain ways and definitely from the psychologist point of view we know that most behaviors or and all behaviors if I should say are driven by your thoughts

37:32 and your feelings and there's that triad interactions about how you think how you feel and how that influences This is what you do. So in terms of groups associations, well we can go back to Maslo's hierarchy of needs and also about how every human being goes through that phase. Uh it could be hierarchically or not necessarily one after the other but essentially we are aware that every human being needs their physiological needs. I mean like we cannot live without that. So physical needs you're talking about everybody needs food, everybody needs water, everybody needs a place to stay or like a home and we also

38:20 need sleep. So these are the four fundamental essence or like the four fundamental things we need physiologically as humans and it forms the foundation of our living and well if you're able to acquire that you you climb up on the ladder to your social needs or safety needs love and belonging and so maybe I'll just hammer on love and belonging in terms of the hierarchy which is where the group or association essentially would connect with that everybody is born with that innate desire to belong. And so when a child is born and parents are excited that they've brought this new baby into the world, well, we must remind ourselves as

39:05 parents that this child is coming and they have already designed this uh let me put it this they already they already coming in with what they need. So it is our job or our role to ensure that we provide those needs. So if these needs are provided for they have all of these things established and that sense of love connection belongingness these children have it. Research shows that that correlation between that and indulging in some of these substance induced behaviors is quite low and the and that the opposite is true. So for example, if a child comes into the world and doesn't have all of these needs fulfilled and they

39:51 are born into a home that is unstable, they are born into a home where they don't feel loved, always criticized, feeling they don't belong. Essentially, uh charity begins at home, right? There's that saying. So if the child has that foundation, solid foundation built in them from the ages of 0 to 5 and then from 5 to 12 going on into um adulthood or young adulthood, they are set to a very large extent built with some form of resilience, okay, to be able to endure whatever kind of peer pressure they experience and all of that. So essentially I think what I'm trying to say is that the desire to belong and form find yourself in groups where some

40:38 of these things are done that that we have that ability to cope and uh resist some of these temptations uh because we have that strong foundation. That may not be entirely the case for everybody but there is the data to show that yeah if children have that then they can be able to find themselves flourishing in in all aspects of life and that feeling for belonging would not necessarily or that desire because they didn't have that sense that desire to belong will not necessarily drive them to do things that would take uh their life away from them or something like that. So yeah, I I hope that really answers the question.

41:26 Okay. So in other words, we are saying that so she happens to have this group but her foundation has built some strong resilience in her. She has some strong self-esteem. She feels loved and belong to her family. And for that matter she will not be that much influenced to really want to belong to that group and do as the group desires and for that matter uh to be wanting to experiment in drugs and its use. Is that what they're saying here? Yeah, precisely. Precisely. Okay. Well, um Dr. Maloo, are you there?

42:12 Yes, please. I'm here. Yeah. Okay. Parents, parents will want to pick some warning signs before it's too late. What warning signs can in behaviorally, physically, emotionally? What warning signs would these adolescent and children exhibit for me to know that there is something wrong and I need to take that step? Dr. Ata, you would have to repeat the question for me. Sorry, I just got distracted. Please do.

42:57 Yes. Anytime I I decide to talk to you, the network decides to mess us up. But I was saying no no this is good but um I I got distracted by him. So Ah, okay. Okay. That's that's fine. So, I'm saying that parents would want to Okay, I'm repeating. I'm saying that parents would want to know the warning signs if we have access to drugs and we are using them creatively and behaviorally, physically, emotionally. What warning signs would these children adolescent would exhibit for it to be a wake up call for me to investigate further and do what I have to do as a parent. Okay. So thank you so much and then um

43:45 well done by all the panelists and for your inputs with respect to creative ways or the warning signs that parents could look out for to be able to to detect creative ways that the youth or children are using substances. In terms of behavior wise, you realize that the child may become maybe trying to hide things, you know, suddenly becomes secretive, always trying to keep things like trying to hide things, you know. So, you would want to be on the lookout for that. Another aspect is skipping school. You know, you'd want to find out why why is the person skipping school, etc., etc.

44:32 also piling, stealing, stealing, taking monies that h they haven't been given. You know, you want to find out or making demands for money every now and then. You want to find out why they need that money. Is it because they are um using it to buy to for purposes which are not appropriate? You know and also when you realize that they suddenly become or you notice change them such that they are they no more show interest in tense like how they used to be you know i.e. H the person used to love to be with the family, hang out with the far but they no more have that interest in terms of physical then there are certain

45:20 stigmata of drug abuse that you tend to realize someone who uses cannabis or smokes cannabis you may a person have red short eyes so red eyes sometimes the child's breath you know sometimes And even the grooming might also change you know and they may also experience frequent illness so that they may even have sled speech when they are high on a substance you know and what did they say I just me that sled speech sled speech let's say the person has overdose on a drug okay become slow okay

46:08 you you want to see to talk about that. So they may have slay speech having overdose on a substance you know so that's something that parents could look at in terms of emotional mood swings you know a child you know who is always calm and composed of late every now and then can switch from either being happy or to the other extreme sad maybe irritable irritability you no etc etc etc. So these are some of the warning signs that parents should be on the look at terms of like the child's appearance. You'll be red eyes then emotional could have mood swings or bit

46:54 irritable then the other thing the behavioral aspect could be hiding things from the parents that's not the how the child used to be you know so these are things that you should be on high alert all right thank you Dr. Ata yeah thank you thank you Dr. Maluk Mr. Hanu would you like to add something to this warning signs? Yes. So thank you very much. So just to add a few of what Dr. Dr. Maluk had just said. So sometimes they may you may start using some strong sprays. So when they using the spray they're trying to disguise and try to not let you. So they may give you a warning sign that something may be happening. So they may use a strong

47:39 spray or you may see that sometime they may always have something like a a gum or something their mouth so that they can I mean the person is not used doing that all of a sudden the person h does that and sometimes too they become isolated or they become withdrawn because they know that when they when they are among people it will be detected or their parents can can see the signs. So if there's a family gathering or something, I mean family time together, they want they don't want to come out in the open. So they they become uh uh withdrawn. Usually this what they'll be sometimes soon all of a sudden you see that they they may be having some kind of h role models that they follow. So they may they may try to now be listen more to that person's music or have the the images of the

48:26 person in their room. The person is not like that. all of a sudden they have that obsession for a particular role model that they they look up to. So it's very important for parents to sometimes know who your your your child even look up to. Who is their role model? Who do they look up to? And sometime they may display some of the the images of this person in their in their rooms or constantly keep on playing the does not mean automatically the some some cause to some um cause to become concerned.

49:14 So able to probably investigate more. for instance if there's a they don't want to go to church again you know so it's all other but what they are doing so this just to add to what Dr. Maluka has submitted thank you thank you very much thank you very much Mr. Hanu thank you very much um we are running out of time so um do Dr. Maluk and Gloria, this question comes to you in your from your experience in the consulting room. Uh what detrimental consequences have you seen? What harm has drug abuse done? But I want you to emphasize

50:00 what could have been done prevent that situation so that when parents notice something, they will take steps to get to that point. If you understand what I mean. We all know that there are detrimental consequences. But I want us to you want you want I want you to give us that real life your experience as a consultant the consulting room. This is what we have been presented with detrimental consequences of drug abuse. What could have been done by parents and family so that they would not have gotten to this point? That is what I I want you to emphasize. just briefly uh a picture of the consequences then what could have been done. So I'll come to you Dr. Maluk first then

50:46 Gloria you take it up after he's done. Okay. So in terms of detrimental consequences for the individual I think like from individual and then interpersonal and the society or the community individual level you realize that the person might develop certain mental health issues. For example you using alcohol you are likely to develop benic case and keilopatic that's a neurological disorder. You're even likely to develop an alcohol induced mood disorder. You can even develop alcoholic hallinosis. So these are mental health issues that you could develop and some could even end up developing addiction. I mean you become dependent on the substance you

51:32 know and with respect to interpersonal interpersonal there might be interference or impaired function in terms of your relationship with people i.e. you will not be able to have that good relationship with your family. So it can lead to family breakdown can even lead to loss of friends etc etc with respect to the community or the society because of your substance use and your need to find your substance use. You may get involved in legal issues or criminal behaviors. to increase ascendancy of criminal beings either because of your desire to find your criminal your substance use or as a consequence of the

52:17 drug use. Now what could have been done differently to or what have to prevent such a situation? One as an individual or a child you should be able to reach out and seek for help when you need it. For some children they use it because of stress, anxiety or other mental disorders, right? So if they are able to identify the symptom, they can reach out for help. And as a parent, you should be able to also be on the lookout to realize that your child is getting stressed up, your child may be absent child so you can provide the help and support for the child. In terms of interpersonal parental practices,

53:02 people made mention of modeling. I think Dr. Mr. An also made mention ch children do what they see. So someone once said that the best way to teach a child is what example example example. So the child sees what the parent does and then it is believed that children learn from that. So parents should make sure that they do not expose children to substances at an early age. Also they should also be monitoring their children is provided to ensure that to be able to pick up this sign that we have spoken about and then also in terms of the community or the cit level our laws we have a lot of laws on alcohol but we don't implement them and then some of it

53:50 have been sit on our books for a long time. So we need um the policies and the laws on these things to be implemented. Dr. Hello Gloria, can you hear me? Yes. Yes. I guess I'll take it. Okay. So So um Dr. Maluk addressed one aspect of my question which is uh describing the detrimental consequences of drug use and its abuse. Now the other aspect is that for you as a consultant I want a real life experience of what you have met as a result of

54:37 somebody experiencing drug use and what could the parents have done to avoid where they are now? Is my question clear please? Yes it is. Okay please go ahead. As as you were saying the question, I quickly just remembered an experience where a 17-year-old boy who has been perfect at hiding this uh behavior from mother but his grades started declining and so uh the parents or the mom was invited by the school to find out what's happening. Is there anything going on at home? and what was going on and why is this child's grade

55:25 going down all of that. But obviously in that meeting that child wouldn't spill out what the issues were or whatever it was. And so you figure out later on through conversations with the child and you realize that neglect the child is at home and has been at home with no supervision. It's one of the most common things you would hear especially in school settings unfortunately because parents are busy going to work leaving them sometimes with nannies drivers and all of that. So the child is home unsupervised with no structure with no adult supervision.

56:13 And when such a situation happens, the child is left to figure out life for himself. And what may even make it worse is if that child despite that neglect or lack of supervision is being criticized with about his grades. For example, he comes home with a certain grade and you're upset and you're you're criticizing them and sometimes even comparing them to maybe other people and how they are doing well and all of that. I mean these are things that I strongly believe are within the control of parents and that sometimes when parents are are spoken to about these things and they actually make the

57:00 effort to work around these things the kids will get better or they wouldn't even have found themselves in such a position in the first place. Uh so yeah comparing them and also sometimes if you have a number of kids and this comparing this comparing thing is is a really big problem. I don't know why but when a child is performing at a certain level and the other sibling is not and that comparison is there and so essentially like I said from the beginning it just touches or hits the child's self-esteem and selfworth because at the end of the day you the parents are like the the first social um being that the child interacts with growing up and so they

57:46 sort of look up to you and you are like their number one role model in the first place. So the moment you begin to make them feel criticized and you know as children they work from that egocentric stage of understanding the world and so everything is about them and so they cannot really differentiate between what's out there and what our parents are saying and all of that. They are not able to do that cognitive um you know analysis of issues and so they are they they are limited in terms of their understanding. So whatever you see they take it line sinker they accept it as who they are and also because at that stage they are developing their sense of self their selfidentity and all of that. So we have to be careful the things we say, the words we use. I mean we should

58:33 try as much as possible to do our best for the kids in terms of our presence, you know, because that emotional connection that will set them up for the future. You can only have it for them when you are present. It's not showing up for their football games. No, it's showing up every single day. making them recognize you as their first love, the one that cares for them and you are connecting with them with that kind of deep emotional, you know, presence that really really sets them up for the future. So I don't know if maybe that tackles what you wanted to um Yes, that tackles it. Thank you very much. So like you are saying neglect the neglect of our responsibilities as parents. Yeah, sometimes it's not

59:20 deliberate neglect but as a result of the challenging times that we find ourselves in, we are both working so we don't have much time but yes we find we find ourselves caught up in the work of neglect. In that sense Gloria let me come to you again. So um Joe Caris kindly mute yourself. Yeah. So, um Gloria, um what communication strategy in the midst of all this challenges that we find ourselves and we unknowingly find ourselves to be neglecting the situation as a parent?

1:00:06 How do I communicate? What communication strategies can I use to to help mitigate some of these issues? Right. Let me first of all acknowledge your point about how yes as parents we are busy and of course to give them what they need in life. Uh we definitely have to work and support them and so sometimes it gets very very challenging as to how to balance and so we are only advocating that as much as we are out there and we are trying to provide doing our best to give them that financial stability. Well, I am very hopeful that in the future maybe we'll have a world where the financial issues wouldn't be, you know, such a difficult problem for

1:00:52 which the actual presence that the children need would be will be lost. And so on that note, uh I I really reckon what you're saying and it's difficult. We are only advocating that there will be that balance. And to the question, yeah. Um, I always say that start early and as much as possible. I wish parents will make some time talking about time. Again, we make some time to understand some of these psychological developmental stages children go through. What do I mean by that? that when your child is in neutral before they are born, we take some time to understand what their mind or their brain the processes you know so that we

1:01:37 can understand what do the children need at what age and at what age because if you do not know what age they are what they are primed to need then what would you be doing for them at that age then you'll be doing 1 + 1= 4 you know but if you understand that at this stage this child is going through a stage where they need A B C D then we will try and give our optimal best to provide that and so I will encourage that first let's start with learning about psycho social development of children in terms of how the brain works maybe I just chip in a few that every child has different brain waves okay and so every stage of the child's development

1:02:25 Gloria not not to cut you but out of time that's fine not to cut you but you have to break down of every parent should learn the that cycle whatever oh not not all parents I mean the challenges that we are going through struggling for money and all that this is not the time for us to be learning an additional psych 101 so give us okay Okay. Okay. Let me just let me just probably summarize what I'm trying to say that every child goes through stages. Okay. And so for each stage they need certain things. And I just wanted to emphasize that the year 0 to 5 is one of the most

1:03:11 essential periods for every child. And you know like I said from the beginning when you set the kids up in terms of their their neural wiring it sets them up against a lot of challenges. they become robust to face life. And so what are you giving the kids in terms of uh how are you forming their belief system in terms of morals, in terms of ethics? What are we embibing in them? And that will mean we have to be present and together we can embibbe that and that doesn't necessarily have to be the parents, you know. So in the school system you know at the at that school level how are we teaching children to be creative to be robust and resilient and that's something we have to talk about. So in terms of practicality, number one,

1:03:58 let's start early. Let's have that built connection, emotional connection with our children from the very beginning. I saw a video one time where a child was trying to hug the father from behind. And the response really startled me. You know, the child only wanted that physical touch or that warmth from the father and desired and showed with the actions. But it appeared that acts that the child showed didn't resonate with the father and so the child the father just shuts the child hey why you touching me get off me and that sort of thing you know so um I just wondered that what is this father's understanding of connection what is this father's understanding of being the role model

1:04:43 and the first point of call for that child and so it's very important that as parents we also realize that some of the things that we used to believe about uh emotions about connection maybe we have to really unlearn them and then build that strong connection with our kids and really delve into that. So start early, form that connection, stay calm when you're trying to correct your kids, you know, raising your voice. I know sometimes our emotions also get the better part of us as parents and we are stressed and so sometimes we lash out, you know, but it's important for us to take that pause, okay? In the course of that emotional state where you're about to break out and shout and do all sort of things because the child did

1:05:29 something bad and you want to reprimand them, let's remind ourselves to take a pause, taking that deep breath, calm ourselves down and then approach that child with that calmness. You know, it can really go a long way. Also, active listening. You know, we talk about active listening. I feel like has become a very popular palace. But what really is active listening? How do you let your child know you're actively listening to them? Sometimes it's not really even saying anything. It's just about your facial expressions. It's just about how you may even ask for clarifications, making them feel affirmed, validating them, and making them feel you are listening and hearing them. All of these things help them to have that you know strong trust and belief and confidence

1:06:17 and then that builds that strong robust uh resilience we are talking about. So also you can use short stories you know as children we used to read story books and all of that and as children they learn a lot from stories and their imagination. So create some stories, let them know about the challenges and the dangers of these things and let them have that understanding as they are growing and hopefully that can really set them up for the future and prevent some of these things. All right, thank you Gloria. That's quite extensive. Thank you very much. You've given us some good points. We need to start early to build that emotional connection with them. If it happens that we have to quiet them, we

1:07:03 need to stay calm. We have to practice active listening and the use of creative stories to share perspectives and mold their behaviors. John, let me come to you. Um, I did not start early. So all this practical ways that Gloria is sharing, I have no use for them. I did not use it. So I'm confronted with a situation that I suspect that my boy now has access to drugs and he might be using them. for you as a young man with all your knowledge as a social media

1:07:49 advocacy and all that, how do you suggest, how do you advise that I communicate with my boy? Yeah. Um, so I think one very important thing is the sort of relationship we build with our kids. It has to be very honest and very open such that they feel they feel safe to come to you with some of these things because most often than not um already the relationship is so scary and they are afraid of their dad or they're afraid of their mom that it doesn't allow for some of these conversations to happen. So the the very first thing is is to develop that that very cool relationship with your boy

1:08:36 where you can talk about anything. Now if you want to start this discussion, it has to come from a very non-judgmental way. You need to try and make it look like you're just trying to understand him. You're trying to understand what he's dealing with. And it's not because you want to punish him or you want to discipline him. And from there when you begin to understand him, you can you can find the root cause of the thing. Cuz I think when Gloria was talking, she mentioned um isolation, them them being left home without any parental care or things like that can lead them into, you know, trying to feel that loneliness with the drugs. And so if you talk to them from the angle where you just want to

1:09:22 understand them, how did they even get involved in it? what's what does it do for them? And I believe that's that's a way you can you can really understand um what they're dealing with and how best to help them come out of it. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Um John, at this point, let me permit me to read a few comments that has been shared so far. Um adme says that one other way we is used

1:10:07 is by making into okru life soup and eating with bangun. Okay. And Narina says very interesting juicy joy. Some also blend tiger nut, date, coconut together with wheat and add fruit juice as sweetener. Wow. In that case, if you go to the fridge and there's something that looks that is a normal thing and you taste it and it has an unusual taste, I think that that's red flag and you should begin to investigate and ask some questions. Um admin again he says please how can health staff most especially clinicians

1:10:56 be able to identify patients with drug use challenges now that illicit drug users have become sophisticated Dr. Look, please note this question down. I'll come back to you with that when we get to the question answer session. But I think that admit as some refresher courses would help to get that. Um I may I think he added something to maybe make it clear. If you know them for some time, you may notice behavior change. Check the pupils. Some drugs enlarge pupils. Some make them

1:11:43 uh very narrow red eyes. Check the skin for signs of injections or unusual localized infections in the elbow pits, on the hands, other places to name a few. The skin may be reddish, heightened perusion with blood, artacia and fo difficulties. Oh, admin very well. Admin very well. I think that you you asked the question and you gave answers. Um Joyce, good afternoon to all. My name is Joyce

1:12:29 Lo of International Child Development Program. H good afternoon Joyce. Thank you for coming. Maybe you would like to stay over there. We can talk after the program. Um Isaka, good afternoon. I'm glad to join this meeting, this special meeting. Thank you for coming. Isaka Francis for very educative. Thank you Samuel Panty. Great submission Madame Gloria. Thank you Ivy Anj. Um please do due to bad network would it be possible to have the recordings and then that tells me I this is the first time you are joining our session. This is the 37th or 38th.

1:13:15 All of them is on YouTube. Just type the topic and you'll find them. Mike All right. So these are um the comments so far shared. Um Mr. Let me ask you, you know, we have to at some point we have to be radical and we have to be aggressive by searching their things and all that for for evidence.

1:14:03 But whilst respecting their privacy, are there some practical ways that parents can use to avoid or reduce access to drugs and need to use among our children? Yes. So very well Dr. So um um yes these days our children are very sophisticated and enlightened and sometime they may even ask you questions but there are certain things that we can we can do as parents it falls within the measures that when we talk about prevention so one of the things we are looking at is that uh I mean some of them have been mentioned basically but uh research

1:14:49 shows that Um, a a father figure at home is a kind of protective father. So, you need to have a father figure at home. So, it may not necessarily be the biological father, but it could be an an elder brother, an uncle, a stepdad, but there should be because these days you hear a lot of young women who are saying that they just want to get pregnant and and just that they don't want to have anything to do with men. I'm not saying that because I'm a man, but evidence shows that a father figure at home is a protective factor. Another thing that parents can also do.

1:15:39 Oops. church has spoken about is about believe that when a parent is religious they engage in that they hold their child it becomes a protective factor we also to mention so as we are very okay so can you hear me now yes you can hear me if you can reverse go ahead can I go ahead yeah okay so we also talking about spending quality family time together spending quality family time together so as parents sometime we get busy we don't have the time but we need to make the time I mean that's a protective factor because earlier I said that sometimes

1:16:25 when they started using drugs they want to withdraw and be isolated so therefore making sure that you invest and let them understand that spending time together like having breakfast together having dinner together it's very important for the family and also helps you to be able to and it's a protective factor we're also talking about knowing the whereabouts of your children at any particular point in time. So knowing the whereabouts so like your child I mean that's why sometimes people talk about broken homes for the child will leave the the the mother's house and say I'm going to the father because there's a quarrel among the couple. So the mother is not able to call to check as as as he come home or as he got into the house. So there the child is able to use take advantage of that silence and able to do a lot of things. So as a parent you need to know the whereabout of your children.

1:17:12 And I also want to extend this. So just like the the analogy of the farmer who decided to share quality seeds to all his neighbors, you know, he's the best farmer but to share quality seeds with his neighbors because he knows about what crosspollination. So sometimes we shouldn't say that because um we come from a good home. So our our we should sh the friends of our children. We sometimes even welcome them and sometimes be role models for not only our children but the friends of our children so we know what is going on motivate them and call let them feel welcome so that when they house and under your purview you can you can you can see and monitor what is going on. We also want to talk about it has been said already parents serving as role models. It's very good. We also talk about safe h homes is also very very important.

1:17:59 They also talk about effective parenting. These days the children we are having are very sophisticated and we need to also invest in understanding and guiding them and supporting them you know so therefore it's very important for us to invest if there's a a class if there's a book we can take to read about effective parenting so able to h guide our children. So these are some of the things that as parents we can do to to to we can do that it may it may look ordinary but evidence shows that they are very protective when you do these things. Children feel welcome because

1:18:52 if you indulge me. So they did a network two cage where there's only food and water where these rats had spout play things and all that but is is okay now. Yeah. So they were me they were mentioning the amount of h water because the water has been laced with opioid or drug. What they realized was that the the the part that not have a lot of play time do not have a lot of maze do not have all these things the the rats drank the water laced h the drug laced water to the point where some of them even died. But the other part where they had

1:19:38 a lot of play time, they have a lot of the maze that they were playing in, jumping here and there and all that, the the rats drank the the water less. This goes to testify that sometimes environmental factors are very critical even though they may be biological basis for drug use. The environmental factors are critical and key like investing in our children's education. So children have what education they have opportunity to play. We have that connection with them. You know they they feel safe. They are not hungry. I mean there's equality, gender balance and all these things. So this critical environmental factors also influence drug use. So we need to probably invest the in the relationship we have with our children and it could be a protective factor for for drug use. Thank you very much Dr.

1:20:23 Thank you very much Mr. Hanuk. In fact, talking about friends, knowing where our children are and the kind of friends that we they keep, in fact, reminds me of a very sad story. I'll share that story with you shortly. But, uh, please, I have shared a link with you in the chat box. Uh, kindly all my participants here kindly, it will take you about five minutes to fill it. kindly click on the link and fill it for us so that we can get information for us to improve what we are doing here. And whilst I come to share that story with you, let me read a few comments that have come in. Um uh this is from Fuseni Abu Bakr Sadik.

1:21:08 It's an interesting session just that the timing isn't so favorable for Muslim participants as 22 to 2:00 p.m. on Friday coincidentally the same period for Juma prayers. Uh youth are actually becoming vegetables because of substance use. It's heartbreaking. mental health authority should invest well so well into health education and preventive measures to help deal with this and so for like you are saying this is what we are doing we've been sharing this link this flyer as far back as last week for it to go global it comes to you you share and encourage others to share to

1:21:55 join share this is an unlimited platform for as many people that we can have so that we are all learning. I mean we cannot put a thousand people in one room to educate but we can put 5,000 people here to educate. So it's all our job. Mental health authority is doing our best. That is why we are creating this platform. Every month we try to bring something that is of essence to all of us. So when you get this flyer and the link share, encourage others to share. encourage them to join and that way we'll be achieving what we are supposed to achieve. Thank you very much for saying h Naki Caesar a lot of lessons learned. I'm very glad to be here listening with my word and we are all taking down

1:22:42 points. Well done Naki. So the link is there please click on it and fill it for us. So to that story about friends years ago when I was quite young there was this fine girl in the suburb and mele ago. Please mute yourself. Mike, there was this fine girl in the suburb and before she made friends with this other young man who allegedly supposedly physically could tell that was a drug addict.

1:23:29 It was it was unimaginable why of all the decent young men in the suburb she chose this particular young man. Later later little later little later little later little later little later little later little later later then knowledge became that she made friends with a guy because the guy was able to supply her with drugs. Sadly, the girl died a drug addict on the street. That's how it is. So, we should be very careful of the friends that our children make. That's all that I can say. We should be very careful. We should take particular notice about it. And and at that time there wasn't even social

1:24:14 media. Now there is social media and

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