Zambian youth and alcohol abuse

Well, most blogs have background stories, however this one doesn't. It is just an expression of my thoughts from personal experience and what I have seen in my surroundings. 

It doesn't take a long scroll through twitter to realise the extent to which alcohol is glorified by Zambian youth. At first glance, it is harmless banter, for likes and retweets maybe. It makes the handler look cool and classy, for others it is evidence of their strong financial position when they post themselves drinking the finest whiskeys or spending their time at the best places that Lusaka has to offer.

However, amidst all the glamour and glitz, what I have come to learn is that there is a thin line between taking alcohol for recreational purposes and alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is a social ill that often times goes unnoticed because in part of how much the larger section of society has normalised it. Drinking is the most common theme amongst most social groups, whenever and wherever they link up. Sobriety is seen as obscene, a bigger sin than that which Judas Iscariot committed. Sober people are labelled as boring and anti-social. But I digress, I am not here to campaign for those who choose to be sober. 

Alcohol addiction is just as deadly as narcotics addiction. I would even go a bit further and call it more deadly. My reasoning behind this is that it is the most accessible drug out there, most affordable and lastly, legal. Furthermore, as it is seen as a normal societal practice, one can become addicted without them knowing that they are an addict. It's all fun and games. Wake up, get drunk, wake up hungover the next day, and then repeat. The abuser always thinks that they are in control until they cannot function anymore. This usually happens when alcohol becomes the taker's source of energy, they cannot live without it and they become junkies of some sort. Others are more unlucky as alcohol damages some of their internal organs and ultimately kills them. 

The demoralising thing is that even though people are aware of the dangers of alcohol, abuse that is, not much awareness has been raised in the fight against it. The effects of peer pressure for example are heavily understated. Twitter is one of Lusaka's biggest peer groups and I think that we can save a life by being more conscious with what we share and how we share alcohol related posts. We have to be conscious of the fact that some other people are depressed and turn to alcohol and the others, the clout chasers, get caught in the trap of addiction and ruin their lives in the process. 

After all is said and done, it is "YOLO". Drink responsibly. 

Carpe diem