Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO – Students who attended a Christian response to substance abuse workshop at Masvingo Teachers’ College recently called upon authorities to ban alcohol and take stern measures to ensure that illegal drugs do not find their way onto campuses.
The workshop was organised by a group called Focus as a platform for students to interact and share ideas on how to tackle substance abuse at institutions of higher learning.
Participants blamed drug and alcohol abuse on peer pressure and outside influence.
“Many students take drugs because their friends do, so if colleges and universities are cleared of such harmful substances, most of students will be spared,” said one student.
Local lawyer, Chakabuda Foroma urged students to engage their authorities at school to explore the feasibility of their proposals at local level since alcohol consumption was legally permissible for adults.
“Find the cause of drug abuse and address that instead of facing the consequences because drug abuse is a criminal offence,” Foroma also advised.
Motivational speaker, Dr Fredrick Kasese said before succumbing to peer pressure, students must use the power of their minds to make meaningful decisions.
“There are about 400 chemicals in mbanje so when you smoke that, you are taking all of those chemicals into your body. Can you imagine the harm that you are causing to your body?” said Dr Kasese.
Focus national co-odinator Tivakudze Zhou said his organisation wished to go around the country holding similar workshops.
So far, workshops of that nature have been held in Mutare and Harare with one more scheduled to be held at Masvingo Polytechnic in September.education
