THE Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) has warned of the dangers of badmouthing persons with substance use disorder as this militates against the fight against drug and substance abuse.
The ZCLDN said this also worsens stigmatisation, revealing that social rejection and shame aggravates the physical mental health of drug users.
Speaking during a media sensitisation and capacity strengthening programme held in Bulawayo on Friday last week, ZCLDN programmes officer, Knowledge Mupembe, said language plays a critical role in the fight against drug abuse.
"There is stigma and discrimination that is associated with some headlines or terms used in the media. Such headlines with derogatory terms cannot help someone who is in a recovery journey," Mupembe said.
"When we are addressing issues to do with addiction and substance use disorder and trying to help people with these disorders to recover, there are values and principles that have to be followed.
"One of the challenges mentioned among people who are in the recovery journey is that there is a lot of stigma associated with service providers, researchers, reporters and the community as a whole."
He said one of the reasons why drug users relapse is because of lack of support, continued stigma and discrimination, all because of language.
Mupembe said there were terms that should not be used when addressing issues of drug abuse such as junkie, drunkards, drug abuse and former addict among others.
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He urged the media to re-shape the narrative by using terms such as person with substance use disorder, person with opioid addiction, person in active use and person in recovery, among others.
ZCLDN Bulawayo Programme Officer Sibangani Nyathi said harm reduction can be used as an approach to address drug-related issues.
"We are simply saying we understand that people are already misusing and injecting drugs but what can we do to reduce the harm that comes with advent drug misuse," Nyathi said.
"For example, when we realised as a country that we have HIV/AIDS, we introduced condoms in order to prevent more spread, but it didn't necessarily mean we were promoting more sex.
"That is what we are saying here, that we are trying to prevent the adverse consequences of illicit drug use without necessarily reducing drug consumption. Providing syringes and needles to avoid more than 10 people sharing one needle is one safe way to reduce harm.
"But at the same time we are not promoting drug misuse."
ZCLDN is a registered national initiative established in 2011 to advocate for the effective strategies for addressing problems associated with drug misuse in Zimbabwe and southern Africa.
Government has admitted that the country is facing a growing problem of substance abuse especially among unemployed youth.
Other researchers have attributed the increasing drug and substance abuse among young people, who make up about 61% of the country’s population of over 15 million, to waning parenting practices, poverty and idleness, broken homes, social influence and stress among other issues.
According to a study carried out by Unicef earlier this year, young people in the country are the most vulnerable section of the population, especially those from poor or unstable backgrounds who may be tempted to see drugs as an escape from life’s troubles.
In June, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Zimbabwe Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan (2024-2030) and called for stiffer penalties against drug peddlers.
