At the age of 13 Dushane McPherson was introduced to smoking. He was sent to buy cigarettes by one of his aunts and out of curiosity he decided to light up. A year later he was introduced to ganja. And that’s where his troubles began.

Two weeks ago he was admitted to an institution in New York where he is still undergoing treatment after he almost overdosed. He claimed he was given ganja that was mixed with unknown foreign objects.

“Mi feel say is a seasoned spliff them give me. But only father God alone can tell me otherwise,” the 19-year-old told the Jamaica Observer from a facility in New York.

Angry that someone could have taken his life in that manner, Dushane recounted what happened on that evening which almost became tragic.

“Mi an a bredrin decide to go get some weed from a base near stadium and the price did right. We share it up and him cut, and me cut go my yard. After mi light up and start take a few draws, mi get a little tingling feeling inna mi throat. When that was finished mi light up another one,” he shared.

“It (ganja) just never taste right,” he continued. “Mi throat get dry and mi body start feel numb.”

A few hours later Dushane woke up in a hospital bed. He had overdosed. His grandmother who found him in the living room in their small two-bedroom house called the ambulance to take him to the nearest hospital.

His years of smoking ganja had taken a toll on him — not that he readily admitted it. But his family and friends have been concerned … for a long time.

“Him say the weed mek him feel nice, but I have noticed for some time now that his attitude has changed. Sometimes him quiet and sometime him behave erratic,” a friend of Dushane who requested anonymity revealed.

A former student of the Meadowbrook High School, Dushane was a problem child during his high school years. He often smoked at the back of the institution, was absent from classes on a frequent basis, and his grades were below average.

He was suspended from school during the 11th grade. After enrolling into a tertiary institution a year later, he got into trouble again when he was caught smoking.

He blamed it on his parents who separated when he was a child.

“Mi father live in Mandeville and mommy live in Kingston. So mi grow with mi grandmother. They were hardly around. I didn’t have anyone to talk to about certain things, no father figure was around,” he confided.

After leaving high school he did odd jobs around the Corporate Area. His last form of employment was gardening in the Mona area of St Andrew.

His father, who had learnt of his near demise quickly set about getting his son the help he needed for a while. Fortunately, Dushane has a United States visa and his father flew him out of the island to get him into a rehabilitation programme.

“Mi just happy to be alive. Mi almost dead and gone but I have nobody to blame but myself,” Dushane said.

Declining to name the institution in which he has been receiving treatment, Dushane said he feels much better not having smoked a spliff since he began his road to recovery.

“Mi a try put all of this behind me, because I am now at a place that I can receive good help in getting over my addiction. I was going down a narrow path and God has given me another chance in life. I am just grateful for the support that I have been receiving from my family and friends,” he said.

Dushane is due to return to Jamaica in February after completing his treatment.