This is a sponsored post.. People are drinking codeine in cartons! Cartons o! A recovering codeine-abuser, Nancy (not real name) shared her story with popular social media user @itsunclestephen. She sent a direct message (DM) to Uncle Stephen, explaining her experience with codeine addiction as a young University student in Yola State. Stephen had just shared his own experience with codeine too and he posted the story on his timeline as well. 
My addiction started by accident” she stated in the message. She had tonsillitis during the cold season and her boyfriend helped her get a bottle of codeine syrup to help with the flu. The cold had gotten so bad that she couldn’t speak without crying. After her first dose, she was “enveloped in this warm cloud, my senses were dulled - it's like I was floating somewhere; oblivious to whatever was happening around me.” She got better but addiction had kicked in as she still wanted to feel “numb and nice”. The syrup was extremely easy to obtain. Some of her friends had cartons of codeine bottles under their bed! Another scary part was that her addiction wasn’t noticeable - her grades were up, she was the VP of the Student Union in her school. Life seemed alright but she was so underweight that her tribalistic doctor suggested that she take an HIV test. He wanted to find out if the deadly disease was the reason behind her drastic weight loss. “My addiction continued for years. I decided to stop and withdrawal symptoms wanted to kill me. Sha, I struggled, on and off for years.”, she explained. Even when she graduated and got a job, she always had a bottle of a fizzy drink that was mixed with the syrup. She escaped SARS officers at various times when attempting to reach her dealer, who she described as “my guy at Zone 4. lol” Nancy admitted that she lived dangerously in order to feed her addiction. Getting out of the addiction was one of the hardest things for her, “I went cold turkey and it was one of the hardest things I had to do. I was throwing up all the time, my system was in shambles.” Yet, it was such a struggle after recovering, that she slipped a few times. She even gets panic attacks if she is within the vicinity of her former dealer’s location. Nancy has joined hundreds of Nigerians who are beginning to speak out about addiction and struggles. This is because of programmes like the MTN-led Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP), which is getting more young people to not only share their stories but to get other young people to listen and stay away from the many harms of drug abuse. 
Students of the Rivers State College of Health and Science Technology, listening during an MTN ASAP Session 
Students of the Rivers State College of Health and Science Technology, listening during an MTN ASAP Session The post How My Codeine Addiction Nearly Got Me Arrested By SARS appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.
How My Codeine Addiction Nearly Got Me Arrested By SARS
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Ukpe Thompson
