December is upon us once again and what that means for may Kenyans this festive season is spending time with family and friends while making merry. Most of the summer bunnies have also checked in, so the formations for partying are almost complete. Regular partying usually just involves food and alcohol and most recently, vape ilikuja na ubaya. All the cool kids were vaping after the government banned the sale of shisha. But now we are moving away from that; hiyo sasa haibamabi, ile inabamba ni pills. I don’t know if you have ever been to a party where there is hardly any alcohol in sight and no one is smoking anything but people are just high, happy and very energetic; unajiuliza kwani kuko aje? Well, pills are currently the in thing but it is not for everyone.
Recreation is not bad and while life is short and we should live our best lives now as the youth, life can also be very long, and it will be very unfortunate if we have complications further down the road that we could have avoided simply by having responsible fun.
Though most young people are still using alcohol and weed at parties, the cool kids are now using pills to take the party to the next level. The pills come in all manner of colours: green, pink, blue, grey etc. The most common pills in the market are either molly or ecstasy which are different forms of the same drug (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) cut with other drugs. A pill costs anything between Ksh.1500 – 2000 depending on the supplier. One pill is often broken into small pieces that four to six people can share for a good time. Pills are not taken in all clubs, they are only taken at specific places and mostly at house parties where everyone is familiar with one another. These pills are known to elicit feelings of bliss, elation, empathy, love and emotional openness that can last for several hours. Party pills are marketed as designer drugs that are supposedly safe or legal alternatives to illegal drugs but they still have some negative effects that could affect the users both in the short and long term.
Some of the effects of party pills are hallucinations, euphoria, increased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of coordination, nausea, paranoia, agitation, dizziness, loss of sleep, and appetite among others. Users have also reported that they experience depression, anxiety and exhaustion once the high dips in a phenomenon referred to as “Tuesday blues” which is different from “Monday blues”. People still experience a sense of “highness” a day after being on the pills; yaani “afterglow” but the comedown hits you hard on the second day unlike liquor where the hangover hits you the following day. Pills basically work by altering the functioning of the brain and interferes with hormones like serotonin that have a significant effect on the mental health of users. So, while the drugs offer temporary happiness, they have negative effects in the long term not only on psychological health but also physical health. Recreation is not bad and while life is short and we should live our best lives now as the youth, life can also be very long, and it will be very unfortunate if we have complications further down the road that we could have avoided simply by having responsible fun. Have fun but stay safe!