…As more than 2.5k are arrested within 6 months for drug abuse
Brighton Chiseva
Zimbabwe is ranked among the top drug abusers on the continent among people between the ages of 15 and 19 with more than 2 500 people having been arrested for drug abuse related cases in a period of six months.
This was said at the belated International Suicide Prevention and International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking commemorations held at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU)’ s Robert Mugabe School of education recently.
Director of Social Development in the Ministry of Public Services and Social Welfare Tawanda Zimhunga who presented on the state of drug abuse in country said Zimbabwe is on top of the ladder in terms of drug abuse in Africa among the age range of 15 and 19 saying drug abuse was more prevalent in mining towns, schools and tertiary institutions while youth as young as 10 already use illicit drugs.
“According to research, Zimbabwe has the highest number of 15 to 19 year olds in Africa who engage in heavy episodic drinking with 70.7 percent being males and 55.5 being females and this was worsened by Covid-19 which triggered a sharp rise in the use of Crystal Meth (Mutoriro),” said Zimhunga.
He went on to say a number of factors contributed to the rise in drug abuse but the major factors were Zimbabwe being a transit country as well as the cheap price of some backyard brews.
“A number of factors have been attributed to among them availability, drugs are trafficked to countries like South Africa and Botswana through Zimbabwe and a transit country becomes a consumption country.
“When truck drivers stop at shops for a rest, they are selling drugs to our people and some of them are being brewed in backyard industries so the availability of drugs and cost of the drugs which the youth can afford is another factor,” added Zimhunga.
He went on to say other factors include peer influence and a general culture of drinking at parties as a country and other events but said they were working flat out to make sure that drug issue is addressed.
“As a country, we want to focus on prevention programmes and ensure that we arrest this menace, just like HIV and Aids, Covid-19, we want to make sure that we prevent the use of drugs. Awareness campaigns on the dangers of drug abuse are key in the success of the prevention programmes therefore the inter-ministerial committee on drug and substance abuse are doing awareness campaigns. We want to go to mining towns and clean up Zimbabwe operation by the Police targeting hotspots will continue,” he added.
He called for the need of establishing stand-alone rehabilitation centers to cater for survivors of drug abuse saying it was not proper for them to mix with people with other conditions.
“We realized the need for stand-alone rehabilitation centre facilities and in the medium term, government will establish stand-alone rehabilitation centres for drug and substance abuse survivors. We want the survivors to be rehabilitated. We don’t want them to be rehabilitated elsewhere mixed with people with other conditions,” he said.
Speaking at the same event GZU Pro Vice Chancellor Academics Professor John Chimbari, who was representing Vice Chancellor Professor Rungano Jonas Zvobgo, said it was important to have a conversation around raising awareness on suicide prevention, substance and drug abuse among young people as it was topical.
“Just to provide a sense of the seriousness of the matter, I want to share with you some important statistics on arrests made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police from January to July 2022. 2 618 people were arrested, of that number 1 976 are males while 642 are females and 2 061 of the total number are above the age of 32 while 870 are below that age.
“1 748 supplies were arrested and 2 082 end users were also arrested within the same period and 21 drug bases were destroyed within that similar period. A total of 557 people were referred to court and 74 convictions ranging from community service to 10 years were delivered with 483 trials pending,” said Prof Chimbari.
He went on to say the number of suicide cases in Zimbabwe remains high in the country and could worsen now as evidenced by reports shown in some sections of the social media.
Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Drugs and Narcotics Detective Sergeant Netty Kundizeza warned youngsters against using skin enlightening creams and body enlargement creams which she said had long after effects.
She also warned against the use of aphrodisiacs which she said should be prescribed by doctors.
The Inter-ministerial committee is premised on five pillars that is supply reduction pillar chaired by ministry of National Security, demand reduction pillar that is chaired by the ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation.
Ministry of Health and Child Care chairs harm reduction and treatment and rehabilitation pillars.
The fifth pillar that is the reintegration is chaired by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
