G: hi I'm George T: hey I'm Tariq G: and today we're talking about drugs
G:what do people usually mean when they're talking about drugs? T: what people commonly
refer to as drugs are mainly their illicit substances for example the most commonly
used illicit substance amongst young people that's 13 to 24 year-olds would
be cannabis.but obviously when we're talking about drugs that does also
include legal substances as well as such as caffeine. Prescription drugs as well
which you can get over you can get from the pharmacy and which are prescribed
from a doctor. in general you're talking about things such as heroin cocaine and
other illicit substances G: can all drugs be unsafe T: any kind of drugs there is an
element of risk with it, that goes for prescription medication that goes from
illicit substances and it also goes from other substances that might not that the
average person might not look at and think oh yes that's a drug. A lot of
young people are when they are going out they are mixing now caffeine and alcohol
caffeine alone is a stimulant so it actually raises your heartbeat it raises
your blood pressure and alcohol is a depressant which actually slows down the
way the body works and it slows down the heart rate you know if you mix those two
substances to substances together it causes a low strain on the heart before
you actually decide to take a substance I'd always say do your research. Even if
it's a painkiller you have a headache doing a little bit of research and
finding out or maybe an alternative actually I might be dehydrated today and
that's why I have a headache so I don't need to take the painkiller instead if
you're going out and you're think and you're feeling a bit nervous oh you
might not be the most quote/unquote outgoing person initially when you're
meeting people you might think okay let me get a bit of Dutch courage in me and
yeah you know so it hides the fact that actually maybe there's a little bit of
anxiety social anxiety there yeah and actually work through. A lot of the times you
do find that people are dealing with things that they have gone through in
life g: yeah and it's those underlying reasons isn't it that are so much part
of it at the same time. What can you do if you are feeling pressured by friends
or people you hang around with to take drugs like what what might help you out there?
T: developing really strong relationship with yourself
is very important first and foremost okay
understanding what you like and what you don't like to do yeah what you want to
try and what you don't want to try creating a plan for yourself and
actually giving yourself reasons as to why you want to try it that and why you
don't want to try that yeah and actually understanding so when you're in those
scenarios you can't play it back to you and actually say no I don't want to for
example start smoking not because of what everybody else is
saying but actually I like playing sports so I don't know get my fitness
yeah you know and if you feel that you can't actually express that to your
friends or to the people that are pressuring you then you have to
understand that actually they may not be a healthy person in my environment if
that is the case and I advise any person to actually go seek the help of an adult
all schools now across the UK you should have a safeguard in officer or if you
were pressured into doing anything that you don't feel comfortable with please go
have a talk to your safe guarding officer, but one thing I explore all young
people to do is actually make use of the services around you even if you're
feeling in a you're in a situation of isolation and you feel that you know
what I may go back to old habits that I've stopped yeah you know you may have
gone through a recovery may I've got come out the other side and you're now
substance free but you're afraid of like slipping back you can access the
service and you can receive help there are people around you there to support
you. if you feel that you're not ready to go access a service go talk to your
family members even if you haven't talked to them in a while just having
that one conversation even if it's just for yourself to let things off your
chest very important and it could be a scenario where you don't know what
to do they may be able to give you advice even
to your peers and things like that reach out, connect, if you are if you do need
help with your substance misuse issue and you're unsure talk about it services
such as Childline are very important it's a service that a young person can
access out of hours they can actually access at time of crisis
and it means that they can actually recently receive support immediately and
I think that is very important because as soon as you pick up the phone you
talk to individual again you are talking to someone that is
empathetic G: so what asked some of the risks of taking drugs, both
physically and emotionally T:that's the quote unquote scary thing about
substances is that it can affect an individual differently so when
we talk about physiological effects or physical effects taking any kind of
substances for instance is the simple fact that it does change how your mind
works it is a psychoactive substance although
you may think actually I'm doing okay I'm doing fine I'm doing fine you'll
notice the simple fact that there's a change in the packing your pattern of
thinking and it will have and make a negative effect on your well-being
short-term or long-term if you are suffering from high blood pressure
anyway and then you actually end up taking for instance cannabis cannabis is
a very is quite it's quite unique in the fact that it does act as a depressant
and a stimulant if you stand hot your heart rate will increase if you sit down
your heart rate will slow down and that's why I know people when they are
actually under the influence of cannabis if they stand up very quickly they get a
hot flash they feel dizzy right you know and they may feel like as if they're a
little faint and things like that all those all those short-term effects
depending on the situation can be very risky and because again it varies
between person person to person you can't be sure how it's going to affect
you on the night if you are for instance indulging an illicit substance
you are having to buy it off a drug dealer or off someone that knows a drug dealer
simply because of that you're putting yourself in an environment that you
would have never been in otherwise and you don't know this person this person
has no loyalty towards you you know a lot of young people especially with
cannabis will say are using it to medicate I'm using it as a medicine I
would say is that a doctor if you won't speak to the actor and you ask them
could you give me advice to do over I'm going for I very much doubt that cannabis
would be the first thing they'll go yeah sure they'll probably suggest for
example if you're feeling anxious so you're going through bouts of depression
you probably would suggest that you do receive some sort of counseling well you
do go talk to someone instead of just giving you even prescription medication
to yeah with the scenario so again it is
about being able to understand that with any kind of substance use regardless if
it's illicit or if it's prescription there is a risk around it there is a health
risk that there is that it is a psychoactive substance it does change
the way your mind works it's always to understand that if I've been given
prescription medication this is the reason why this is for how long and
actually this is the reason why I should stop because I can actually get an
addiction. if I get in addition to prescription medication a lot of the time
people then go looking for the alternative the alternative to
prescription grade opiates is straight great heroin you know and that is
again mixed of things that we you can't actually know unless you are the person
even the person dealing it to you doesn't know G: if you think you have got a
drug problem or an addiction like what can you do
what where can you turn for help? T: that's the great thing about Childline is that
it covers it almost it covers the cracks that we can not actually see so when I
am not at work when the services are shut down when the school is not there
to help that person when the person doesn't feel able to go and talk to the
people that are close to them Childline is always there and I
think that's really important thing about it it's just that it gives a young
person a choice so if you feel that you do not have the
choice as a young person just always understand
I do have childline G: thanks so much for coming Tariq
T: likewise thanks for having me G: and we'll see you next time