There is a rise of substance abuse among teenagers today, and it is happening in international schools in Hong Kong. More and more young people suffer anxiety, stress, and depression, and they are trying to cope with it through the use of marijuana, cocaine, and Xanax.
Ernest Chang and Mehek Gidwani, both from international schools in Hong Kong, revealed they were using drugs at an early age. Chang took ketamine when he was 13-years-old. At the age of 14, he had anxiety and had to take Xanax. At 19, he got addicted to cocaine.
Chang admitted, per the South China Morning Post, that he was taking Xanax and drinking alcohol inside German Swiss International School in Hong Kong. He would put white wine or vodka in his water bottle and drink it in class.
Gidwani, on the other hand, was 12-years-old when she started using an over-the-counter inhaler for pain relief that gave her "three-minute high." At 13, she had her first taste of ketamine. She said drugs made her feel more relaxed and helped her to easier communicate with people. It also helped her to quiet her thoughts.
Daily Mail Online noted there is a sharp rise in popularity of powerful anti-anxiety drug. Experts warned that it is already on the list of "top five recreational drugs" that young people use, along with marijuana and alcohol.
Even without prescriptions, teenagers can buy anti-anxiety drugs online to self-medicate. "Xanax has tremendous appeal," Dr. Owen Bowden-Jones, a psychiatrist who treat addiction problems for over 20 years, said. Unfortunately, the society glamorizes this drug, like in music lyrics.
Young people talk about Xanax with "decadent glamour," giving them the sense of rebelliousness, while its effect makes them removes their inhibitions. Some teenagers use it without prescription to fight the pressures of living in modern life.
KELY Support Group executive director Sky Siu told the SCMP that international schools, not just in Hong Kong, lack dedicated time to teach drug education. If truth be told, Gidwani revealed that she and a few friends would smoke marijuana outside the school gates. It was even an open secret that some students were taking drugs inside it.
Siu added that it's a big challenge to get the drug education in the curriculum as they are trying to compete with the academic subjects. She also admitted that Hong Kong has limited options to help teenagers with addiction problems.
Although most international schools in the country have social workers, counselors, and pastoral care system, students are often advised to opt for drug treatments outside of Hong Kong. But if the parents can't afford it, they have no choice but to stay.
