Yatongova Guka Makafela, dai matogara guva makachera- Holy Ten.
A conversation with my friend goes like,
"Hey Tino, what's guka." He rolls his eyes and I guess that's because I didn't say the name right so I try again with the full name.
"What's guka makafela?" And now I know I have his absolute attention as he puts his phone down and carefully assesses me before shaking his head. That doesn't seem good, but I'm on some information searching spree so I do my absolute best not to burst out laughing.
"What do you need it for?" he asks after a while.
Innocently, "Studying. Heard I can stay awake for days on end"
He loses it!
I get the information I want!
It's dangerous!
And then, "Don't ever try it if you wanna live".
My own risk taking, adventure lover, experience seeking, fearless and free spirit friend won't even hear of it and that's one thing he vows to never ever take whatever the circumstances. Of course I get some scolding but the information is worth it.
But Tino isn't the only one who has expressed great fear of this new drug on the block. It definitely gets you high, but the crash is so down low, so low it could be 6ft under.
Guka Makafela also commonly referred to as crystal meth or Mutoriro is a man-made drug which potently stimulates the nervous system. Depending on where you're from, it's referred to by many names. The ghetto youth would call it Guka or Mutoriro and the suburbanites would most probably deceive you into thinking it's all lights and life by referring to it as Ice or Glass or Speed.
The drug is strong and highly addictive, hence even in the medical field, it is less commonly used as a second line treatment for obesity and Attention Deficit Hyper Activity. So the only legal methamphetamine product is the tablet to treat these two but well, we wouldn't be here taking of this if this drug has not gotten into the wrong hands and is being used for all the wrong purposes.
Remember, crystal meth unlike cocaine or weed is synthetic. It has been around for so long and can be traced back to World War II where it was used by German Soldiers to keep them awake for long hours. So if they could have made it then, what's to stop young people from making their own.
You know, with poverty comes desperation and with desperation there comes creativity. And necessity is the mother of innovation. So in case you wonder where the youths are getting this highly addictive drug, all I can say is they are creative, they make things happen. So a lot of simple day to day products is where drug producers are getting this drug. One common ingredient is the common cold pills for common cold remedies. Some ingredients are extracted from these and are combined with other products which you won't believe. These other products could be anything from battery acid, drain cleaners, lantern fuel, some powders extracted from Smart TVs and fluorescent lights and once these are mixed, the drug is stronger than ever. Also, mangemba/ dai papa (anti-psychotic pills) are being mixed together with crystal meth and honestly speaking this should give law enforcers a clue on who to nab in relation to supply of guka makafela.
Now one would wonder why young people would go to all extents to consume such dangerous stuff and it does not even come cheap. At $12 a gram, its more than what an average young person can afford.
Rudo says sometimes looking your absolute best is everything and opens doors which won't open if all they see is her big tummy and wriggling thighs and bingo wings. So if Guka can make her feel good about herself while helping her get that trim waist and long thin legs, and a form anyone would die for, then she would definitely pay $12 for a single gram of meth. But then she says, "you know there is a price to pay. "Ukaramba uchirova Guka, you can't stop the premature aging". Now that's scary! Looking 40 while 18 all for a slim figure.
"Wangu, wangu!" a young boy of about 15 says to me, "tiri muma streets and we want to cope and stay vigilant so Guka ndozviripo mdhara". I don't even know what to say, but well, the street kids say Guka keeps them vigilant. What a way to survive!
Kai, coloured and a vibe to be around won't even hide that Speed is his thing. But watching him talk makes you so uncomfortable because his teeth are not like ours and his breath is heavy and makes you want to puke. "Its all for PnP, and trust me you won't regret it. Once you take it Mitchel, you become a binge and crash baby". Of course I have to ask him to explain these terms to me in laymen terms which he does because he thinks I'm a new recruit to this new crystal life. He says it makes him happy and that is all that matters so he would rather live a Guka-induced happy life and die young rather than live a long miserable life.
By PnP he means it is a "Party and Play" drug. After smoking, snorting, swallowing or drinking Guka, there is a quick rush of euphoria, high confidence levels and the party becomes lively and vibrant. Quite useful, right? By "Binge and Crash" pattern, Kai means that they repeatedly take the drug because the high from the drug starts and fades within a short space of time so they take repeated doses in a binge and crash pattern. Now think of how much Guka that is and how much money that will cost. From a medical perspective, the Binge and Crash pattern is influenced by the release of dopamine in the brain as an effect of taking Guka. Rapid levels of dopamine release strongly reinforces drug taking behaviour and acts as motivation for user to want a repeated experience of meth.
Again, Kai suffers from what is called meth mouth and this is an irreversible dental problem caused by Guka intake. Check your friends' mouth and teeth you might know if they are on a Guka run or not.
Thabani says she watched Why Women Kill and knew that the answer to all her studying problems would be solved by meth. When she takes Guka, she gets her assignments done on time and covers most of her studying without feeling drained of energy. That way she says at least she won't have to ever sit through long family meetings discussing her poor grades and she is sure she has studied and will ace her exams. Thabani says when she takes the drug, she goes on for several days without sleeping a wink. She likes the increased wakefulness, decreased appetite and increased physical activity. But you know what else she doesn't like, the violent behaviour hence she keeps away from people and she hates the intense itching which might explain why she is always wearing long sleeved shirts nowadays. Seems to me like a case of trying to save yourself from everyone else by losing yourself.
While these are just a few examples of ordinary people, taking Guka on a daily basis, there are many others taking this harmful substance and it is disturbing. We stand to lose a generation of brilliant minds, of eager young people. In a population made up of 77% young people, we can't afford to lose the face of tomorrow against a drug pandemic that could have been easily solved had the underlying issues been solved.
And don't be fooled into thinking that the drug users ain't aware of the danger they are putting themselves through. They know very well that Guka means irregular heartbeats and increased blood pressure, they know that it affects judgement leading to risky behaviour, they know of the hallucinations and paranoia and anxiety. They know that Guka results in cognitive and mental health problems and changes in brain structure and function but they are helpless and in their helplessness they dig an early grave for themselves.
But won't we go down as a nation knowing that maybe something, anything could have been done to help a number of these young people? They have expressed the death trap which is Guka in everything they do, their lifestyle, their hustles. We all know an average young person can't afford Guka at $12 a gram or $15 per grams depending on wherever they are and we all know what they are doing to get money to feed their insatiable appetite for a drug which to them seems like survival when slowly, it sips life out of them.
We've heard them express in songs that Guka is a pandemic, that it's crystal, it glitters and draws them to it yet it's dombo, a stone that hits them right on the temple and they die without even bleeding. We dance to the Mhofela song and choose to be deaf to the lines that really matter- "vakuswera vakadzima, vaka sticker" or are we all takadzima as a nation. They paint pictures of youth smoking through glass pipes bluish, slightly transparent stuff and to us, it's all a painting. Are we blind or we just do not care?
It's all a shame that we are yet to watch a number of our own die a slow painful death which no matter what good we mean, we can't justify by saying umenzi kakhalelwa or kurumwa nekuchera because somehow we watched it happen and did nothing about it. Because we all want to be a brother's keeper when the going is well and success is striving, we should also be the same keeper when we are going through the most.
So consider this a plea to save a nation rocked by a pandemic that seeks to destroy our youth like that biblical Angel of Death and all the first born sons.
#SayNoToDrugAbuse.
Till next time
Mitchel
*All names have been changed.
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