‘Eliminate poverty, to fight drug abuse’ 

Source: ‘Eliminate poverty, to fight drug abuse’ – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY LORRAINE MUROMO
HUMAN rights groups have said eliminating poverty remains the only solution in the fight against drug and substance abuse among the country’s youths.

Drug and substance abuse has grown in Zimbabwe, with jobless youths mostly in poor communities falling prey to the scourge.

Catholic Relief Services, project officer for the youth and gender portfolio, Cute Nyaradzo Mudzana said poverty was driving jobless youths into drugs, resulting in unwanted pregnancies.

“There are a lot of challenges that the youths are facing related to drugs and poor livelihoods due to lack of knowledge on how they can reinvent themselves,” Mudzana said.

“Child marriages are a big challenge in mining areas because youths are going into mines looking for improved livelihoods and they are exposed to issues of gender-based violence, issues of drug abuse and other forms of abuse.”

In February, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said an inter-ministerial committee on drug and substance abuse had been established to spearhead efforts to combat drug abuse.

Highly addictive drugs such as crystal meth and cocaine have become widely available in most of the country’s high-density suburbs.

In a statement, the Zimbabwe Women against Corruption Trust identified poverty as driving the youths into drug and substance abuse.