Media project final copy

SEVENTEEN
FEATURING:
AHTUSHAM
ISSUE #07

HELLDISGUISED
ASHEAVEN?
BYAZEEMALI
The glowing soul of Ahtsuham fades
towards darkness as curiosity and
experimentation change into addiction
and escape from reality.

HELLDISGUISEDASHEAVEN?
Ahtusham was funny, intelligent, down to earth,
yet, very competitive and tough. He was always
supported by his family, emotionally and
financially with loving and caring friends around
him.
A great athlete with excellent academic
performance in school, he was captain for the
school's cricket team. Under his captaincy,
Beaconhouse school system cricket team was
undefeated; he had the qualities of a great
leader, courage, clarity and passion. Not only
was he a high-flier on the pitch, but Athsuham

also scored straight A?s in his O-level exams,
making his family proud. He was always
kind to people and he said ?Usually treating
people with kindness; you never know what
they are going through in life ?.

He naturally had a positive attitude towards
bad phases that we all face during college life:
the dropped exam grade, the break up state
or the ?friend?who turns out to be less than
loyal and say ?whatever happens good or bad,
take it in a positive way ?and ?always see good
in things ?if a friend was smoking, he would
snatch the cigarette and throw it away, ending

the act with his famously funny,
?SMOKING IS INJURIASS TO HEALTH ?.
Atusham seemed to have a
comfortable life. No difficulties. life
winner. But you never know what
tomorrow will bring-how one
moment-one little mistake or
experiment can change your life
completely.

?SMOKING IS INJURIASS TO HEALTH ?.
College life is all about creating and exploring
opportunities, meeting new people and experimenting,
but sometimes those experiments, desires and
socializing can affect your Soul-Mindset-Pathway to life.
Athusham?s story is very easy to relate to...
Athusham started his A-levels with high hopes and
expectations but soon those dreams were shattered as
new bonds were created, and the circle of social friends
was changed to new one with some individuals who
were considered a bad influence in the college. You
never believe the rumors unless or until someone you
know is affected.
Those newly-acquired friends were involved in drugs
-used to smoke marijuana and do cocaine -and would try

to convince us to give it a go, just once, but Ahtusham
and I would refuse.
Still had the feeling that we would end up trying the
stuff so I would talk to Ahtusham about changing
social circles, but he would convince us both with the
phrase:
?If you have a
st rong w ill, you w ill
never do t he w rong
t hing ?.

As time went on, we used to see other friends
enjoying and creating a fantasy world,it seemed like
they were having the best of times using drugs. We
were not fitting into that circle and the urge to try
drugs was increasing. So Athusham?s decided to try.
I warned him, but he told me ?just once, just for
fun, let me see what happens. ?That was the day,
experimentation and fitting with people ruined his
future life, his darkest phase of life began, asking
himself, ?Why? Why did I do this??
According to the Better health website in 2019, Most
teenagers from the ages of 13-19 take drugs; for the
following reason: the need to feel part of the
community as other friends are already doing it,
socialising, relaxing, having fun and experimenting.

Athusham felt great after taking MDMA for
the first time ?what a trip Azeem, WOW but
this is my first and last time. ?I was
confident enough that he would not try it
again but that imaginary world was strong
enough to break his will. He started doing
drugs on a monthly basis, two or three
times a month. At the end of first year of
college, we could see the major effect on his
studies and he didn?t score well in his first
year. A boy who would always ace the
exams.
In summer, the real struggle kicked in, the
monthly basis came down to weekly. He
started losing weight and the way he used

to act, funny and confident, converted into
silence. when I tried stopping him, he got
angry with me, turning his soul to the darker
side. At the end of the summer, Athusham
was doing marijuana on a daily basis. He
literally used to spend all his money on
drugs. Now it has become a necessity. He
would panic. Have anxiety attacks without
them; he wouldn?t have enough money to
buy them. Spending time with family or
relatives. During lectures in college.

The worst phase started when the Second Year
of college began, he was smoking weed
between each lecture, we had 3 to 4 classes
everyday, and after finishing college, smoking
for another half an hour then going back home
and sleeping. He would wake up and smoke all
night. He was gone. I tried to stop him, but he
would say to me ?I cannot concentrate on
anything, I need to smoke man?. His appetite
was dead, body shaky and he was constantly
fighting or arguing over random stuff. He had a
well-built body. Fresh and glowing skin. but his
appearance changed. Loss of weight. Black
circles around his eyes. Dull skin. His ability to
learn and remember was affected badly.
College grades slipping away. Even the friends

who gave him a push to start were staying
away from him.
At the end of the college, Ahtusham received 3
C?s which was quite worrying for his parents;
most good universities required minimum
3B?s. During the summers he moved up to
more dangerous and hallucinogenic drugs
such as DMT, Cocaine, MDMA, whatever he
could get his hands on, but on the other hand
he was worried, what am i doing with my life.
Questioning himself.

?I am done with life, I don?t
know what is going on ?- ?Can
I live without these
chemicals??.

mind knew that what he was doing was wrong
but his body was not allowing him to stop, this is
the reality of these chemicals. I would see him
sweating and shivering if he couldn?t smoke or
inhale any drugs for two or three hours.
Drug abuse or addiction can cause Physical,
personal and psychological Complications which
can even lead to death as stated by Medical
News. Individuals sometimes take too much of
one substance which can result in coma and
death. Depression and loneliness are
psychological effects which can lead teenagers to
suicide. Relationships are often affected. Financial
and employment issues which can result in crime.

As teenagers, we should never
encourage someone to experiment or
take drugs, try to take part in events
which don't involve drugs. Be supportive
and available for someone you know
who is going through a bad phase, talk
to them , this may help them not
involving themselves into drugs to
escape reality. As a friend, show other
friends the downside of using drugs if
they want to experiment.
What can parents and family
members do to protect their loved
ones? Be part of their life, give them

emotional support and understand
their feelings if they are going through
a bad phase of life.it?s so important to
Spend more family time together and
have friendly and informative
conversations about drugs and other
harmful stuff. Get to know their
friends and most importantly be a
good role model.

Clearly, teenagers are still in the phase of evolving as humans, understanding the world
and things around them. How certain stuff may affect them physically and emotionally.
How social life ruins future life. Teenagers escape to an imaginary world without knowing
the way back home.
Parents, friends, relatives, teachers we all need to work as one community and deal with
this issue. Spread awareness. Protect and save lives of loved ones, friends , family
members or any individual in society facing drug addiction. Be there for them. Talk to
them. Guide them to the right path. Be a beacon.
To help people suffering from drug addiction, contact this organization:
https://www.nacro.org.uk/resettlement-advice-service/support-for-individuals/addictionservices/drug-support-services/