Intoxicant
Ani: since you’ve spoken about drinking and hashish, don’t you want to state your views on smoking opium?
Some religious people actually think that opium is not forbidden unlike alcohol and hashish and even in the holy month of Ramadan they continue to use it. What do you think?
Hossein: once again we refer to our holy book; it says ‘any substance that casts a shadow of change on our mind, behavior and personality is forbidden’.
In other words, any substance that can influence and change our way of being or alters our consciousness is not recommended.
Now do you think alcohol is more damaging on the personality or heroine?
Ani: although alcohol causes extensive physical and mental damages, I think heroine is much worse.
Hossein: then how would it be that God forbids alcohol but allows opium? It just doesn’t make sense to have restrictions only on one substance and I believe divine wisdom has made the guidelines clear for humanity.
Ani: so if smoking opium is forbidden, why is it still recommended that the addicts use their dosage while fasting?
Hossein: it’s obvious; eating dead human flesh is forbidden in our religion unless someone is dying of hunger in special sets of circumstances. At that time, preservation of life is of utmost importance similar to the case of an addict who is a regular drug user and sudden withdrawal from drugs while fasting can cause serious harm to the body and mind.
Ani: alcohol and drugs do have benefits as well. Isn’t it true?
Hossein: of course, who can deny the medical use of alcohol or morphine in the field of medicine? Opium has been a traditional painkiller and medicine for thousands of years and other anti-depressants are very useful in psychology as well.
It’s the wrongful application of these drugs that cause harm and damage to individuals and society as a whole. Out of a marriage between drugs and human beings, addiction is born.
Ani: is it possible that no child is born out of such a marriage?
Hossein: well, I started using drugs as a recreation and thought I can stop anytime I want and gradually I became addicted and after sometime I turned pro.
In other words, the individual becomes engaged to drugs initially and no sooner does he realize that a marriage has taken place and an unwanted child named drug addiction has also been born.
I hardly know of anyone who has been able to divorce drugs prior to marriage and not have a child. Curing addiction afterwards is also a very difficult matter.
Ani: how about someone who has used opium for a short time and has not been aware of its dangers and wants to quit it. What should he do to free himself of this destructive bondage?
Hossein: first he must know that this is a serious matter and drug addiction must be cured completely. Quitting cold turkey and sleeping it off for a few days won’t work.
It’ll take about 11 months to recover along with a complete overhaul of thinking and looking at the world, a change of perception. He must try to achieve mental and physical balance simultaneously so that Opioid production system within the body returns to normal function together with a healthy, normal lifestyle.
If the drug is crack, crystal meth or heroine he must stop completely for three days and then eat half a gram of opium in three daily dosages. Thereafter, every 21 days he should taper the drugs by 20% of the total daily amount used.
We should get ready to go to the time net room.
Ani: I have some anxiety about going to the time room.
Hossein: me too, it’s been two years that I’ve not met the human beings who live in the other circles of creation and my communications with had stopped. I lost all contacts and I’m not sure what is going to happen.
Well, we shall find out soon.