Drugs amongst young people (Gal 5:19–21)

This year is a year of faith, a year of holiness. God wants us to grow in our love for Him. Whether we are adults or young people, we must strive for holiness.

The young people who are holy today will be the holy adults of tomorrow. Father Daniel Ange spoke in one of his books of the ‘saints of the year 2000’. Even when we have mastered something, if we are distracted, we will not be able to do it properly! Even in the spiritual life, if we are not careful, we will become distracted. The world offers us so many distractions! Saint Paul asks us not to let ourselves be seduced by the world. He calls us to discernment. The world offers so many things that can cause young people to fall. Among other things, there are all these drugs that enslave people:

ØCigarettes: Even the world has realised that smoking is harmful and has insisted that cigarette adverts must state that ‘smoking is harmful to your health’. Many young people take up smoking out of a desire to fit in. They believe that smoking makes them ‘cool’, when in fact it is slavery! You mustn’t even try a cigarette, nor be tempted by it, nor envy those who smoke! There are even women who smoke! A woman is a pure creature; she must not smoke to assert herself. Sometimes cigarettes are passed around amongst young people. As young members of the Paroli community, or simply as young Christians, we must not smoke; it enslaves you, it kills, it causes cancer…

Ø‘Banga’: this is a cigarette that is stronger than an ordinary cigarette. ‘Banga’ destroys one’s sense of compassion; you mustn’t even try it! It has been discovered that some young people are sniffing glue: it becomes a drug and numbs the senses.

ØHeroin and cocaine are even stronger drugs: addicts inject them. These drugs kill brain cells and people act without understanding anything, like madmen; they are enslaved.

Unfortunately, these drugs have also reached us here in Africa. I have a friend who runs a secondary school, and some children of wealthy families have brought drugs into the school! 

Drugs have several harmful and negative effects:

·Resistance to painkillers (resistance to anaesthesia). I’ve had the experience of suffering serious injuries, and I had to be given certain injections to cope with the pain. But after a while, the doctor stopped me from continuing to take these medicines for fear that I would become desensitised to them.

·Addiction: Drugs are addictive, and you may even compromise your integrity to get hold of them when you run out. There have even been overdoses that have killed great artists! But we must become champions of the fight against drugs.

Alcohol is also a drug: these days, there are young people who drink more than adults! Young people must not drink! In this respect, it’s becoming impossible to tell young people from adults: this rush towards adulthood is causing young people to lose their zest for life!

We see young people ‘knocking back’ three to six bottles of beer a day! Some of them drink and even take part in drinking challenges! Girls used to drink fruit juices, Malta… But now, many of them drink whisky… Lots of girls don’t realise that boys use alcohol as a way to ‘woo’ them. That’s why you have to be clear and firm in your choices; only do or drink what you’ve decided… don’t let yourself be negatively influenced! It really surprises me that today there are young people in Paroli who drink to the point of getting drunk! It’s terrible! So where’s the difference between them and other young people? When the group first started, there were some really sensible young people – to the point where I was almost proud of them! But over time, I’ve become disillusioned by a disappointing generation that gets drunk on alcohol!

St Paul says that ‘such things must not even be mentioned amongst you’. We’re shocked today that so many young people are dying: this can also be explained by their exposure to drugs (and the diseases that go with them: cancer, AIDS, cirrhosis of the liver, etc.). How can you do well at school when you’re indulging in alcohol? It’s difficult to resist alcohol once you’re already an alcoholic. An alcoholic loses all respect, even if they are ‘responsible’! Young people in the Paroli community must avoid alcohol and drinking. If any of you are drinking, come and tell me.

Even food can become an addiction: I’ve learnt that there are young people who steal or hide food, even during retreat days! There are retreats where people go home without having eaten, whilst the young people have kept a lot of food for themselves! We allow ourselves to be gradually corrupted by food. You must realise that food must not cause you to lose your holiness.

Like food, television can become an addiction: many young people are enslaved by television. It is neither the television nor the programme that should control you! You must not watch what is imposed on you, but rather watch what you choose to watch: in this way, you control your passion.

You are kings of the earth, not slaves! There are those who watch television every day from 8 pm to 11 pm!

Then there’s idle chatter, which is on the rise and can become an addiction: you mustn’t talk too much. Talking too much also means saying things people shouldn’t hear!

Then there’s music, which can become an addiction: some young people even go to Mass with headphones on. Music should serve you, not degrade you!

Then there’s sex, which becomes an addiction amongst young people: don’t start masturbating, committing fornication or hopping from one partner to another… it can lead you astray!

We’re talking here about deviant, uncontrolled and evil passions. Don’t even start! It risks ensnaring you and making you a slave! Don’t even try it! You don’t try sin! To try sin is to sin! You can’t try everything in the world! God wants us to control our passions! We must be masters of the world, not slaves! Once you’ve already got caught up in these deviant behaviours, it takes COURAGE to give them up. These days, young people are sorely lacking in courage! Even spiritually, it takes COURAGE to turn away from sin. ‘You are in the world, but not of the world’; ‘You are the salt of the earth…’ – salt would be of no use if it lost its flavour!

Do not be afraid! Summon your courage to break free from slavery. Genesis 21: God created us and said: ‘Rule over the earth; subdue it’. Young people following Christ, who is KING, must be princes! No one and nothing must command you to do evil. We are going to pray to be courageous young women and young men, to abandon whatever leads us into sin. Nothing must enslave us or debase us!

Henri Bayemi