The unintended spotlight
Living in the 21st century era, it is instinctive for us, Malaysians to always think very highly of our Western counterpart. With everything more advanced and state-of-the-art facilities made available in the West, as portrayed on the internet and television, Malaysians really like to make the Western civilization as the ‘ideal way of living’ in today’s world. Undeniably, as a student in the United Kingdom myself, it is inevitable to say that I enjoyed living in the UK as everything seems better to what Malaysia can offer. However, no civilization is faultless. The West has their own weaknesses that are often shadowed by the luxurious and decadent way of living, which seems to be the foremost aim that most Malaysians have today.
The untold truth
A lot of Malaysians do not realise that the West struggles a lot with the problem of alcohol, cigarette smoking and illicit drug use. Most of us are oblivion to the effects of these social problems that the Europeans have to deal with. As a medical student myself, I could recall meeting countless of patients with opioid overdose, cannabis-related self harm injury, and even withdrawal syndromes of the alcoholics that came through the Accident and Emergency unit (A&E) during my acute medicine placement. In fact, the NHS spent about £16 billion per year for drug-related crimes in England and Wales1. These sides of the highly regarded Western population are not made known to the world. In terms of family institution, they also face problems with single young mothers, domestic abuse and so on. However, my intention here is not to criticize the UK and the west entirely, but rather to give an insight to the ignored fact of the common social problems that they are facing as well. Social problems are common in the majority of the countries in the world, and to resort for a solution that is highly potential to cause more problems in the society is plainly illogical.
The alleged claims
With regards to multiple claims that Mr Syed Rosli Jamalullail made, they are all essentially assumptions and are not supported by any concrete evidence. The adverse health effects of marijuana use that Dr Nadiah elaborated on her article is already proven by a lot of research done worldwide, and to dismiss them on top of making allegations that the doctor is insincere is very unreasonable. Besides that, the claimed unworthy and biased journal that Dr Nadiah referred to in her article is actually one of the journals published in the renowned and well-established journal publisher, The New England Journal of Medicine (TNEJM). TNEJM actually is one of the focal references in the scientific community alongside other the journal publishers like Cochrane Reviews and BMJ Journals. Hence, it is very nonsensical for him to say that the article is biased and unworthy.
Widen your horizon, but always look with your heart
It is definitely normal to have our eyes and hearts stuck on the things perceived as ‘better’, and for some, smoking marijuana is probably the answer that they look for to escape the burdening pressure of today’s life. However, if you just care to look beyond the portrayed ‘happiness’ and ‘success’, you will appreciate the assumed ‘backward’ lifestyles that you still have. Smoking marijuana may give an immediate release to the stress that you are facing, but in the long run, the detrimental effects of it will not only impact individuals, but also Malaysia as a nation. Thus, it is of utmost importance that we should base our judgement to the core principles and moral compass of life. For Muslims, that judgement should be on what is in line with the Al-Quran and Sunnah. Malaysia used to be a country filled with aspirations to become successful, and for Malaysia to resort to using marijuana as a legitimate way to reduce stress among its youth shows that we may have lost the drive to pursue for something of greater value and may have opted for solutions, which are short termed.
Dzharif Aliah Bt Sabri
3rd year Medical Student, Cardiff University
Ketua Wanita Isma Cardiff
Reference:
Bma.org.uk, (2016). BMA – Drugs of Dependence – Scale and Impact | British Medical Association. [online] Available at: http://www.bma.org.uk/working-for-change/improving-and-protecting-health/drugs-of-dependence/scale-and-impact
Originally published at: http://www.ismaeropah.com/marijuana-the-presumable-solution-of-malaysias-youth-problems/
