Pubdate: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 Source: East African Standard, The (Kenya) Copyright: 2003 The East African Standard Contact: http://www.eastandard.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1743 400,000 STUDENTS ABUSE DRUGS? WHERE ARE WE HEADED TO? Nairobi There is one man whose job few would envy. His name is Mr Joseph Kaguthi, the country's drugs csar. Every day, his job becomes ever the more difficult with the revelation that more and more young people in the country are abusing drugs. The latest statistics shockingly say that there are 400,000 students who have become drug addicts in Kenyan secondary schools. The number of girls abusing drugs is said to be growing at an alarming rate and could soon surpass that of boys. More shocking is the fact that the purveyors of drugs are known to the police by name but nothing is done to them. Whatever good intentions Kaguthi might have, they will always meet their waterloo at the hands of an unco-operative law enforcement agency. Drug experts have established a direct link between tobacco smoking and hard drugs smoking. In fact, participants at a head teachers conference in Mombasa early in the week heard that one of the most abused drug is called Kuber which is a mixture of tobacco and bhang. the drug, experts told the conference, is taken in the form of cigarette. Cigarette smoking even among youths has tended to raise few eyebrows in our society. We have even had cigarette companies sponsoring some school events and advertising their products with abandon. The message being sent to the youth is simple: that it is kosher to smoke. Smoking gives you wings. But when one looks at the statistics of students who are abusing drugs, one is filled with trepidation at the future of this country. Which is why the disease must be defined by its own diagnosis. We take no word back. The Government must speedily enact the National Tobacco Bill to provide the necessary legislation for the campaign against smoking. We must not lose sight of the fact that even those who abuse drugs today must have started with an innocuous smoke at a dingy alleyway of their school or dwelling place some day in their lives. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens