Shabu vs. family destruction
The importation and peddling of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as “ice” or “shabu”, has returned to these isles in stronger waves. It’s a social tsunami that would destroy young minds and families if we don’t take proactive measures to slam the brakes on king pins and peddlers or dealers.
Its destruction percolates down to every level of this community. About the only winners are the king pins and peddlers. They make their money while they feed users–young and old–with more “ice” to freeze their hearts and fry their brains right into the grave. I’ve met some of the heavy users. Most have died in recent years boasting fast forwarded RIPs at the Chalan Kanoa Cemetery.
How sad their departure which went together with the descend of beautiful sunsets. They never moved their cold bodies at dawn. They’ve become another statistic in our book of “shabu users” who never woke up to greet their loved ones heading to school or spouses who worked equally hard to make ends meet. The once lively family setting shifted from joy to sadness. He’s gone and left behind many unanswered questions from his young children.
There are instances where both the parents and young children are shabu users. It’s an ugly setting where local pimps peddle young girls for sex with locals or tourists. Usually, these are runaway girls, young, pretty and bright who can’t seem to figure out that forked road at the most difficult juncture in their lives. They resort to shabu and allow peddlers to dispose of their fate. They have opted quick bucks over discipline in the acquisition of lifetime skills.
Then there’s the case of spouses who got deep into the use of this drug. They too put up their sacred bodies for sale. They meet at a certain venue and wait around for the king pin who keeps them in a room. There’s a peep hole for monied buyers who could get a quicky for $200 or more. The price of this affair could spiral up or down, depending on how addicted the woman may be. It’s mind numbing and almost inconceivable in that some of these women are well poised–husbands have good jobs who earn sufficient income to provide for their family needs.
The destruction to families varies. It includes violence, the sale of the last family property in order to buy more shabu, sex for money; the victims being their young children who are far from being capable of discerning what must have gone wrong right under the roof above their heads. Unusual behavior predominates and they reach down deep to compare what life was and what it is today. Some have sailed through this adversity unhurt while the more vulnerable ones succumb to the “in-thing” and cave into using shabu along with mom, dad, brothers and sisters.
I feel for spouses and children who are influenced to using drugs as a vehicle to ease their pain or find a way out of tight situations. Unfortunately, the net effect is filial destruction and the hallucination they had at problem solving remains a fantasy that eventually turns into violence, prostitution, sale of precious family belongings, and the disintegration of once strong Christian families.
Before this drug sends many of our young minds into the slammer or mental wards, it is best that we stand and speak up against king pins and peddlers. Either we slam the brakes at the front gate or many would walk down that deadly one way street into self-destruction. I don’t think this is the road that you want to travel between now and then. Stay away from it now while you still have a chance!
Strictly a personal view. John S. DelRosario Jr. is publisher of Saipan Tribune.
