My name is Tom* and I first smoked dagga when I was 13 years old. By the time I reached matric, at the age of 17, I was fully addicted to dagga and I continued to smoke until the age of 31. Today, I am 32 years of age and my only hope in writing this brief testimony is that millions of others will learn from my mistakes and will not use dagga as a tool to hide from their problems.
Dagga is an excellent way of pretending to be happy. Smoking dagga allows you to hide your problems behind colourful exteriors and vibrant upbeat music. I was greatly deceived and unable to see the truth while using dagga. All the time I hid from the truth of my depression. My mother was killed in a car accident when I was 5 years old and I failed to deal with this loss correctly. I continued throughout school and life without accepting this tragedy in my life. It was only through clear-minded and honest counselling and confession that I was able to discover this deeply embedded root of denial and rejection. As soon as this suppressed burden was removed, I felt free from the grip of dagga for the first time. Today and always, I urge others not to use dagga as a way to hide from their problems but to find strength to face the truth and experience freedom from deception. The truth will set you free, not dagga!
* Places, names and identifying details of individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.
