Adnan Al-Shabrawi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Mohammad has been a drug addict for the past 35 years, during which he lived a miserable life. He lived with his middle-class parents during the first few years of his adult life but left the house to become a drug addict. His father was harsh in disciplining him, as he tried to encourage him to lead a decent life and prepare him for the future. However, his father's harshness led him to leave the house, and mingle with bad company, which led him to drugs. At first, his parents thought that his irresponsible behavior was due to a mental illness. They took him to Shehar Mental Hospital in Taif for treatment. However, he managed to escape from the hospital and started taking drugs again. He lived in rundown, abandoned houses, under bridges, and next to waste containers. He also lived in mosque toilets, but has never been inside a mosque. In addition to using drugs, he began dealing in drugs to earn money to buy drugs. He was arrested for drug dealing and has been imprisoned more than 20 times. Every time he leaves prison, he would return to old habits and drug dealing. He was sentenced to death on three occasions, but that did not deter him. In addition, he was also imprisoned five times for parental disrespect. His parents died when he was in prison, but he did not shed a tear, as he was distant from reality, feelings, and humanity. When he left the prison after his parents' death, he found that his brothers had kept his share of their father's inheritance. The inheritance was around SR750,000. His brothers advised him repeatedly to spend it wisely and invest it in a beneficial project. As usual, he did not listen and spent all his inheritance on drugs. He spent around SR70,000 a week on heroin. He also started dealing in drugs to make money to fund his drug habit. Within two months, he spent all his inheritance on drugs. He went back to prison, but no one ever visited him. His family and relatives had given up on him and considered him a hopeless case. He left prison and found that he was alone with no wife, children, relatives, or friends. At that time, he was around 50 years old, and illnesses began invading his body. His wakeup call came when two of his companions died from drug overdose. He looked around him to find only cats sharing the abandoned room with him. It was then that he shed a tear for the first time in his life. He decided that it was time to get help and treat himself for drug addiction. He got admitted to Al-Amal Hospital and has been receiving treatment for the past nine months. For the first time, he felt a real desire to live a decent, human life. The hospital is cleaning his blood of drugs and poisons, but he feels great remorse for the life he has lived. He feels guilt for dealing in drugs and luring other people to use drugs. He seeks God's forgiveness and hopes that he does not die until all his sins are forgiven.
