Drug abuse: More of a disease than a crime

One of the most painful moments for a parent is to admit that they have failed in the noble duty of parenting. Listening to one making that admission is even more excruciating.

This is the story of a young man who was full of promise. He ticked all the boxes that would make a parent proud. Discipline, social fitness, religious acuity, distinct sportsmanship, honesty, integrity, academic excellence, you name it, he had it.

Then he returned from abroad a very changed man, after his postgraduate studies. Not only had he learnt the ‘sins’ of drinking and smoking but also socially, had become a recluse. Soon he graduated into taking hard drugs right in his parents’ home.

His drug habit had now become so desperately expensive that he sold most household items to finance it. The refrigerator and television were the items that made them realise that this was no ordinary situation.

By the time his remaining, heartbroken parent admitted failure, he had moved the whole way from marijuana, brown sugar, opium to cocaine and any other substances that gave him a good ‘high.’

It is not like the family and parents did not try to solve the matter. They prayed, counselled, jailed him and took him for rehabilitation. Every time it only got worse. Now they are dealing with HIV as well. Many families are silently grappling with this challenge.

Use of illicit drugs has become even more pronounced with the increasing poverty and unemployment among Uganda’s youthful population. There are so many unrealistic expectations for the individual who accesses social media where everyone is apparently doing well except themselves. The peer pressure that leads to experimentation and eventual addiction. The influence of Hollywood with its glorification of drug usage. The conception that drugs provide relief from pain both physical and emotional pain.  The claims of their curative prowess, especially for diseases like respiratory infections, cancer, HIV, Covid-19 and erectile dysfunction.

Then there is the capitalistic instinct of the trafficker making the drugs easily available and accessible on the market. He is of the same ilk as the evil machinery in racist societies that deliberately supply drugs to the underprivileged in the ghettos. Their aim is to help them self-destruct while earning from the misery.

There is now the popular ‘weed tea’ and weed cookies served in many outlets. Then of course the popular smoking of marijuana, which is easily and cheaply available, for it grows in the wild without prompting.

So, when the 11th Parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Bill 2023, it generated a lot of debate because the issue of narcotic drug use and abuse has reached epidemic proportions. In many of the discussions, especially on the floor of Parliament it was noted that a deterrent law would be the panacea for the problem in our midst and the fines are quite steep. For instance, trafficking narcotic substances may set one back by a billion shillings or three times the market value of the illicit drug at the time of arrest or life imprisonment or both. 

A person who smokes, inhales, sniffs or uses the drug without lawful excuse may be jailed for a period not exceeding 10 years or faces a penalty of Shs1 billion.

It is timely to have a conversation and law, for drug usage has wasted many lives, caused illnesses and been behind the commissioning of several violent crimes against innocent people.
Without a doubt the trafficker needs the whole weight of the law to be thrown at him without any reservations for his action is prompted by greed at the expense of the suffering of society.

The user who is mainly an individual who is seeking solace, may not be helped by a deterrent law. Many people who don’t take drugs are not doing so because they fear the law and its consequences. They have probably been educated on the dangers of drugs and have taken it seriously. Others have seen people affected and taken note. Some have got a coping mechanism in the form of a reliable psychosocial safety network, usually a caring, loving family or society.

Others have overcome drug abuse through rehabilitation, counselling and guidance.
Author Douglas Murray says the odour of marijuana spreading through city streets is the smell of failure for that government and its citizens. If one walks through many of the areas in downtown Kampala and in places frequented by the youth like markets they are greeted by the strong smell of marijuana.

That is now the solace of the young and restless urban poor who flock the city expecting an easy life of modernity far away from the dirt of farm life in the provinces. Reading such people the law to the letter, will not solve the problem. It will fill the jails. If one intends in good faith to help them then there must be deliberate policies directed towards taking care of them. The issue of productive well-paying work is key. They must be educated formally and skilled to harness their creative attributes and vast energy.

That aside Uganda must learn from the way it handled the Aids crisis of the late 80s and early 90s. There is need to come up with serious health education on the dangers of drug usage. This education must include taking, especially students and the young to rehabilitation centres to see for themselves the outcomes of drug abuse. 

For many people of that generation who did not get infected by HIV, it was not a matter of chance but choice. They took the ABC message of abstinence, being faithful and using condoms seriously. Besides there were many people within society who were living witnesses of the devastation of the disease. 

Today because to the advances in antiretroviral treatment, many victims of HIV no longer lose weight, have boils on their skins or lose their hair. So many young people do not appreciate the devastating effects of disease and claim that there is treatment so there is no need for protection. It helps a lot to see a victim in flesh and blood.

The other very crucial measure is to take illicit drug usage as a disease first and foremost and not a crime. So, there must be serious efforts and emphasis on therapy and rehabilitation as opposed to punitive measures against victims.

Twitter: @nsengoba