Alcohol and substance use is a rising problem in all of Africa, and also in Zimbabwe hence it has become one of top three diagnoses seen in mental health units.

Youths are susceptible to peer pressure and can easily gain access to drugs because once hooked on drugs, they also become more likely to engage in criminal activities. Many people end up being addicted to drug abuse and this addiction is a disease that affects your brain and behavior hence when you’re addicted to drugs, you can’t resist the urge to use them, no matter how much harm the drugs may cause.

Zimbabwe’s catholic owned girls’ high school, Dominican Convent yesterday expelled eight students on grounds of misconduct after they were involved in drug abuse during a trip in Nyanga recently. The students have been on suspension since their return from the trip which was held from 12 to 15 January this year.

In a statement, the school’s representative Kudzai Mutsure, said after extensive investigations, the disciplinary board found the students guilty of violating school drug policy.

“I write on a sad note to notify you that the eight girls we had put on suspension pending investigations on an incident that took place at the 2023 U6 leadership camp which was held in Nyanga from the 12th to the 15th of January, have been excluded from the school with immediate effect. The disciplinary committee exercised all principles of procedural fairness and found the girls guilty of violating the school drug policy.”

“Investigations are still ongoing and we will not hesitate to weed out any more culprits to sanitise the school space. I pray that the girls will receive the rehabilitation they need and that all parents take an active role, in partnership with the school, to modify the inappropriate behavior of their children,” read the statement.

Mutsure appealed to the parents to be more vigilant and active by refining their parenting skills and being aware of their children’s activities as the school’s investigations showed that the pervasive behavior started at home.

Last week, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) arrested at least four people in isolated incidents of drug possession and trafficking. ZRP intercepted a truck carrying a passenger in possession of dagga. The dagga was packed in three plastic bags which were stashed in a UD 90 truck in which the suspect was travelling in.

To add on to some cases, an Indian woman was arrested in Zimbabwe for illegal possession of 9.2 kgs of drugs in October last year and has been in a prison since then.  Her family members claimed that the arrested woman was offered a job to bring the bag from the African country to Mumbai and that she was unaware of the contents of the bag.

Bulawayo’s Entumbane community in partnership with the police, local schools and other stakeholders, this week decided to take the drug abuse scourge that has become rampant in the area head-on.

Zimbabwe is experiencing an upsurge in drug abuse and drug dealers are reportedly taking advantage of Zimbabwe’s use of foreign currency as legal tender and the country’s porous borders to smuggle in drugs such as crystal meth, heroin, cocaine and cough mixtures like Broncleer to feed an ever-growing market for drugs. The situation has become hectic to an extent that a lot of Zimbabwean drug addicts are now using homemade concoctions, manufactured in backyards.