THE country’s porous border posts and a well-organised syndicate of drug dealers and corrupt police operatives are fuelling illicit drug and substance abuse amongst youths, a latest research conducted by youths in Harare’s Hopley high-density suburb has revealed.
This comes as the issue of drug and substance abuse has remained a sore patch for the country with a latest report by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund research indicating that substance abuse among youths was on the increase with skunk being the most abused drug due to its high levels of intoxication.
According to the feminist research on substance and drug abuse conducted by youths in Hopley with the technical support from ActionAid and Katswe Sistahood, illicit drugs were easily finding their way into the country with some of them being brewed in the open.
“The illicit drugs are either clandestinely manufactured within the local communities or smuggled from neighbouring South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia through the country’s porous entry points and well-organised syndicates at the official border posts.
“The drugs are then sold to the young people in many places where unlawful transactions take place sometimes by women who masquerade as innocent fruit vendors,” read the report.
Government has since declared war on drug lords and users, launching a national anti-drug operation dubbed No To Dangerous Drugs And illicit Substances; See Something Say Something.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, early this year warned that the government was reviewing laws on drug abuse to allow harsh sentences for drug abusers.
The research further indicated that an intricate web of powerful individuals, corrupt police operatives and community vendors including those who own tuckshops were identified as peddling drugs in Hopley.
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“The findings revealed that there is mushrooming of gazas (tuckshops or houses) meant for the trading of drugs in Hopley. The gazzas were attributed to people living outside Hopley who acquired land and constructed houses they do not live in, andthese have also been identified as the hubs for the trading of drugs,” read the report.
It was revealed that males were the most users of illicit drugs with 90 youths having participated in the research, with 22% female respondents and 78% male respondents.
Highly-placed sources in government who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Zanu PF regime’s failure to arrest and combat drug dealers was a worrying factor.
