Confessions of a bang smoker

By MERCY OMWONY
Published October 25, 2009

Kevin standing next to where he hides his goods.

My name is Mercy Omwony, and I am a bhang smoker! I come from Kisii, a small town in Kenya, and I have been smoking the illicit drug for the last five years or more. I have a feeling that I am becoming addicted. Although I know the dangers of this drug, I am completely helpless, and unable to stop. It’s not just me; the whole village is affected by this problem.

Apparently, the rest of my village has been living in self denial. We had never discovered all along that we are smokers, leave alone addicts, to this dangerous drug! We are victims of the status quo, helpless pawns in a larger chessboard; cornered and lacking the way out, unless a miracle happens.

It is called weed, bhang, pot, marijuana, and even cannabis sativa; names we have heard, but have never pronounced in the same breath, as we order the illicit drug from vendors. Some of us have never touched a cigarette butt, leave alone a roll of bhang. Most of us cannot differentiate real weeds, in a maize plantation, from marijuana. No wonder we are mad, for being turned into heavy smokers, without our consent. The right to safeguard our health is trampled upon by clouds of heavy smoke; forced into our lungs without our consent.

How could this happen? That might be the question lingering on your mind.

A walk through Kisii town will answer your questions. A frequent user of the road towards Kisii stadium will meet scores of young boys, literally burning their chests with huge rolls of bhang, walking majestically, in disregard to law enforcers. At first, I thought it was their lifestyle, and I had no business interfering with them. These youngsters hang precariously on the stadium walls as they purchase, and light up bhang from drug peddlers, who conduct business around the area. I didn’t realize the danger of second-hand smoking until I read a health journal.

I immediately decided to speak with Sammy Nyambane, a Kisii-based clinical officer, on the effects of bhang smoking; and he had this to say: “According to research, bhang smoking shortens a person’s life span, with death rates higher, than those who have never smoked. Nonsmoking spouses of smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer, and heart diseases than others. Children are also likely to suffer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS); and drug abuse has also contributed to the spread of HIV.”

According to Microsoft Encarta online library, people have smoked, chewed, or eaten marijuana for its hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects since 3000 BC. The leaves are boiled to a certain concentration, and one inhales the steam, before eventually drinking the concoction. There is also another form of using cannabis, which is also lethal and can only be administered by an expert.

Many users describe two phases of marijuana intoxication: initial stimulation, which includes giddiness and euphoria, followed by sedation and pleasant tranquility. Mood changes are often accompanied by altered perceptions of time and space. Thinking processes become disrupted by fragmentary ideas and memories. Many users also report increased appetite, heightened sensory awareness, and general feelings of pleasure. Negative effects of marijuana include confusion, acute panic reactions, anxiety attacks, fear, a sense of helplessness, and loss of self-control. Chronic marijuana users may also develop a motivational syndrome characterized by passivity, decreased motivation, and preoccupation with drugs. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana, impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, reaction time, and driving skills. Smoking marijuana can damage the lungs.

A client having a smoke.

Hassan Omar, 26, a Nubian native, who has lived in Kisii all his life, and has smoked the illicit drug for the last 10 years, recently became a peddler too. Omar is a class five drop-out, and washes cars for a living. The car wash is just next to the stadium, making it very convenient for him to access bhang. He buys the drug, when the leaves are rolled to resemble cigarettes, and then sells them to his clients at the car wash. Before they are rolled up, they are compact and are called stones, Omar says, adding that he usually buys the rolls at a measly Kshs 10 each, and then sells them at double, or sometimes triple the price. At the end of the day, he makes a profit of between, Kshs 200 and Kshs 500. This, he says, is a lucrative venture which has enabled him to take care of his basic needs.

A young man I met on the streets, who only gave his name as Kevin, says over the years he has seen several young boys get initiated into this deadly habit. “Most of them begin off as couriers, but eventually end up being junkies,” Kevin says.

According to Kevin, the gate is a vantage point, in case of ‘trouble’. “You know nowadays, we serve even the cops, so they don’t bother us!” he says, adding that he has been in the trade for more than 10 years. After completing his form four, there were no funds to send him to college, he says.

Kevin started off by airing the drug under a tree at the stadium compound, and going up a different tree within the vicinity. Then, the police were more vigilant in enforcing the law, he says, so he got arrested a couple of times, but eventually he made a deal with the cops. Today, he says, the policemen allow him to hawk the illicit drug on condition that he shares his proceeds with them.

Man Mesh as his friends call him, is a peddler, junkie, and plants the herb in a secret location near a river. He says he was doing well until he started smoking his own produce, and drinking illicit brews. Mesh’s health is fast deteriorating, and he has lost most of his customers for being unreliable.

Kerina Mose, a mother, has lost the hope of ever rehabilitating her daughter, Susan. She says her daughter’s peers introduced her to the illicit drug while she was attending a local high school. Susan later became an addict and turned into a petty thief, and sold a whole sack of maize her parents had just harvested, and later sold their only cow, to bankroll her addiction. Mose says her daughter disappeared without trace after that and her whereabouts remain a mystery.

Richard Magaki, a local chief says, more men than women use the drug in Kisii. While some do it because of peer pressure, others, he says, are simply rebellious. During the recent census exercise, Magaki says, he noticed most of the applicants for the job were above 30 years in Kisii, unlike the national average of 18 to 29 years. With the nearest rehabilitation center located more than 20 kilometres away, the future, he says, looks bleak for most of these youngsters.

“This generation is facing extinction, if nothing is done and fast,” Magaki says.

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