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MEMBERS of the community harbouring drug peddlers are equally responsible for the scourge of drug abuse that recently saw Ingutsheni Central Hospital handling 17 youths from Bulawayo’s Entumbane suburb after they overdosed on crystal methamphetamine (meth).
As the institution’s chief executive officer Dr Nemache Mawere rightly said, drug peddlers live within communities and are known for their trade but members of the public have chosen to look away.
Dr Nemache Mawere
“I don’t know if we will ever win the battle against crystal meth because it’s just beyond us.
“We admitted 17 youths from Entumbane who had overdosed,” he lamented as he confirmed the case of the Entumbane youths.
“We are using a majority of our resources to intervene, but it’s clear that we are losing because no matter how much we try to rehabilitate users, they always relapse”.
Dr Mawere said out of 650 patients admitted to the hospital, about 50 percent of them are drug abusers.
He said professionals such as doctors, lawyers and pharmacists are also admitted to Ingutsheni for abusing crystal meth.
“This substance is very addictive and I doubt that we will be able to redeem any of its users. What worries me is the fact that drug lords are known, but the same communities whose children fall prey to crystal meth do not act,” said Dr Mawere.
Ingutsheni Hospital
“We need drastic measures to be taken against those who sell these drugs otherwise we will not even succeed in curbing this problem. Residents from Entumbane once forced a drug lord out of the suburb and it’s sad to see that the 17 youths are from the same area.”
If the case of the Entumbane 17 youths does not alarm the community then they should brace for either more cases or even deaths related to the abuse of drugs.
Unless the communities start cooperating with the police in smoking out these criminals from society, then the worst is surely coming.
These people are known and it should not be hard to liaise with the police so that they are arrested and stopped from poisoning society.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said drug abuse is a serious crime and warned drug dealers that they would face the full wrath of the law once caught.
Inspector Abednico Ncube
“We have been calling on residents to help us with information that may lead to the arrest of those involved in selling drugs. We usually conduct sporadic raids targeting these criminals,” said Insp Ncube.
“We have made some arrests in the past and we continue to intensify our fight against drug dealers. We urge other stakeholders to get involved in this fight because we have zero tolerance for drug abuse.”
Online Reporter