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Writes Lloyd Rabaya
As Zimbabwe is battling drug abuse, presidential candidate Joseph Makamba Busha has highlighted that his party, Freezim Congress, will implement stringent measures to reduce the vice.
This came out at a candidates launch and introduction press conference held yesterday in Harare.
Drug abuse is a thorn in the flesh in the country, and authorities are struggling to put an end to it.
This year in February, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) launched a crackdown on drug abusers, smugglers, and traffickers in Harare, and it is estimated that above 2 000 suspects were arrested.
In January this year, the private girls’ high school Dominican Convent expelled eight students after they were caught in possession of drugs during a trip to Nyanga.
Causes of drug abuse amongst the youth may include peer pressure, broken families, and emotional and physical abuse, but the main cause is to relieve stress against poverty and unemployment.
Busha has said that all this will be a thing of the past.
“We should first establish what is making them take drugs before we arrest them. When we build, we should leave out space for recreational facilities, and to make matters worse, there are no jobs,” Busha told this publication.
According to reports, there are syndicates of drug barons that operate in major cities like Harare, Bulawayo, and Gweru, and strategic border cities like Beitbridge and Mutare guarantee access to neighboring countries.
It is alleged that senior government officials are the ones mainly involved in drug trafficking mainly through porous borders.
“We must tighten the borders, but we must also be able to penetrate and arrest those people who are feeding our children with drugs,” said Busha.
The most common drugs in Zimbabwe are cannabis, crystal meth, heroin, cocaine, glue, and cough mixtures such as broncleer.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, also, is calling for a collective effort to fight the pandemic.
Rehabilitation centres in Zimbabwe are estimated to be holding at least 5 000 people for treatment all the time.