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Previous Mary Matsikiti
Herald Correspondent
A society’s future is as bright as its younger generation, for it is the seed from which it sprouts, the sod that supports it, and the water that nourishes it.
However, with the way that younger people in Zimbabwe are encumbered by drug and substance abuse, owing to a plethora of reasons, the future of the country, whose fortunes are hinged to this key constituency, appears to be austere.
It is, indeed, worrisome since youths constitute more than 65 percent of the total population.
Across the country, especially in urban areas, hardly a day passes without news of loss of life, violence and crime owing to drug abuse.
The bane is as widespread as it is gender and social class insensitive, which burdens families, communities and the nation.
There should be a way out, which, nonetheless, depends on the understanding of what constitutes drug and substance abuse beyond playing the blame game that makes everyone a loser.
Individuals may be central to the scourge, which threatens regeneration, but society is equally complicit.
As such, the need to join hands in the fight against this menace cannot be overemphasized if youths are to remain the beacon of future prospects. Drug and substance abuse may negatively influence every facet of life, but there is always a gold lining on every dark cloud.
There has never been a time that society was free of the use of drugs and other intoxicating substances, because they are as old as humanity itself. Modernity has also not been any hiding space from the marauding demons that hang on the wings of time.
Drugs often abused are readily and easily accessible even to the unemployed, and children in high-density suburbs.
While the past found solace in that only the poor or less privileged members of society were prone to drug abuse, the present has been less fortunate, thus, compromising the future. The plague has become so daring that it knows no socio-political boundaries.
Drugs come in many forms. There are hard and soft drugs, depending on their hazardous impact and jurisdictions.
Soft drugs include marijuana (mbanje), hash, sedatives and sleeping pills, while hard drugs comprise heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine (crystal meth), also known as guka makafela or mutoriro, among others.
Other new unorthodox methods include ‘Bluetooth’ where blood from an addicted abuser is infused into others to get high; use of drugs disguised as confectionary products such as scones, and popcorn and muffins laced with drugs. These are among methods that are common in schools and suburbs.
Also, glue, thinners, and alcohol have been abused substances since time immemorial.
The reasons for taking drugs are varied, particularly in young people still trying to locate themselves in the miasmic world. They range from peer pressure, curiosity, breakdown of family support systems, and rebelliousness, to the desire to get high.
Other reasons linked to heightened use of drugs by young people include, lack of recreational facilities, socio-economic pressures, divorce and death of parents, poverty, stress, past experiences of trauma and dismal performance at school.
Research has also shown that in communities where drug use is common new users are easily hooked on.
Whatever escape may be sought through the use of drugs, in any guise, has a way of compounding the situation one could have been in, instead of mitigating it. The feel-good emotions pursued are neither everlasting nor satiating; in most cases leading to addiction.
What exacerbates the situation is that substance abuse is associated with mental health complications. Although cases of mental health illnesses have been rising over the years, the last decade has been particularly fretful for Zimbabwe, principally due to the exponential rise of substance abuse.
According to the World Health Organisation, at least 450 million people globally suffer from mental or behavioural disorders.
Statistics show that in Zimbabwe more than 1,3 million people suffer from mental disorders.
Studies have revealed that regular use of drugs such as marijuana can increase one’s risk of depression or anxiety. Also, the more one gets hooked to cannabis, the higher the risk of developing schizophrenia or drug induced psychosis.
Media reports point to a cross-sectional sphere comprising professionals, like teachers, lawyers, academics, doctors and journalists, among others, who at one point or another find themselves confined to rehabilitation centres and mental health institutions such as Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals’ Annex Psychiatric Unit, Ingutsheni and Ngomahuru Psychiatric Hospital.
With daily admissions at the Annex averaging 50 patients, according to official estimates, psychiatric hospitals have been overwhelmed in their quest to provide adequate care to the affected.
The other challenge is that substance abuse equally affects users and non-users, which calls for an all hands on deck approach if solutions are to be found.
Who then is to blame: abusers, cartels or drug runners?
Stories of people committing crimes, dying by suicide, and succumbing to drug abuse are a mere expression of the dire straits weighing down on the nation as it grapples with the vice on a daily basis.
As has been highlighted earlier on, everyone is susceptible to substance or drug abuse. The impact of this vice goes beyond the abuser to impede relations with friends, family members, co-workers and the society.
Substance or drug abuse increases crime rates, street violence, spread of STIs, suicides, mental disorders, impaired perception of reality caused by delusions, hallucinations, illusions and disorganised behaviours.
Furthermore, abusers are prone to other side-effects like weight loss, skin colour change, skin outbreaks, intense cravings, isolation, depression, anxiety and paranoia, unhealthy friendships with people who have similar habits, and financial difficulties due to constant need to fulfil the cravings for more drugs.
Addicted users also neglect their responsibilities—be it work or personal obligations, have poor judgment, including dicey behaviours, such as engaging in risky sex, selling drugs, or criminal activities like robberies.
The nation’s economic prospects also suffer as a result of drug abuse as it increases inefficiency, reduces work performance and increases accidents and absenteeism. It also burdens the healthcare delivery system as the pressure on available resources intensifies.
Media reports on domestic violence have pointed to the surge in substance abuse as catalytic, making it difficult to combat, as monsters are created out of otherwise peaceable people.
In the end, everyone loses out through merchandising of terror and the fear of it on families and communities; sexually, emotionally, physiologically, physically or socio-economically.
Although the Government and other stakeholders have been playing respective crucial roles in the fight against substance abuse and rehabilitation, seeking help by those hooked on is usually difficult. Often, society is unforgiving to those opening up, leading to discrimination and stigmatisation.
In Zimbabwe, drug abuse is criminalised, hence, there is no proper support to abusers as they fear arrests. Counselling or professional services are also beyond the reach of many victims since they are expensive.
Consequently, abusers are left in the care of their families, which are mostly inexperienced to take care of them, thus putting the lives of members in danger as some of the drug users are violent.
There is, therefore, a need for a multi-pronged approach involving abusers and non-takers alike.
Preventative programmes are vital as well. These include implementation of social skills development schemes, encouraging strong family bonds, and ensuring that children of school going age are kept in school.
However, prevention can only be effective in the presence of a good public health delivery system, a well-functioning economy and an education system structured to offer social and technical skills.
Churches, government departments, schools and communities can also come on board by instituting awareness campaigns on the dangers of using drugs and other intoxicating substances.
Communities should join hands in creating watchdogs and whistle-blower platforms in the fight against drug lords in collaboration with law enforcement agents.
On the other hand, the role of parent support groups cannot be understated as this constitutes the foundation of the fight. Parents should take time to nurture their children and be role models to them.
As both a watchdog and disseminator of information, the media should also be enhanced to ensure that the right messages on drugs reach everyone.
Without taking anything from this critical enforcer, the Police should intensify raids on known drug bases across the suburbs and increase roadblocks on major highways and other feeder roads to curtail the supply lines.
Further, the Government should cooperate with other countries in the region and beyond to fight drug and substance trafficking.
Let us all join hands to fight drug and substance abuse. Let us do what we can to make our society drug abuse free, again, and bring our young people wandering in the drug-infested wilderness back to the fold, and foster regeneration for posterity.
*Previous Mary Matsikiti is studying towards a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology with Great Zimbabwe University. She can be contacted on [email protected]
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