The Sunday Mail
Shamiso Yikoniko
A young man seemingly in his mid-20s lies motionless in the veranda of Mbare National shopping complex.
| The only visible sign of life around him is urine which oozes from his pants, creating streamlines on the pavement, coupled with big green flies hovering over his unconscious body. The buzzing flies are being attracted by a revolting stink coming from his trousers. |
The young lad is believed to have gotten high and soiled himself after taking three “pulls” of a highly intoxicating drug called skunk.
Passers-by shake their heads in disgust while his friends, seemingly on the guard, can be heard giggling as they continue to smoke, possibly the same stuff, as well as drinking alcohol.
“Leave him alone. He will wake up when he sobers. And if he doesn’t I’ll take him myself,” shouts one of his friends to those who want to give him a hand under the perception that the young man is ill.
Research established that it is common among the youths to take drug concoctions whenever they find them to speed up intoxication.
Skunk is the generic name often used to describe a potent form of the cannabis plant which has high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Cannabis ordinarily has a THC content of two to four percent while skunk is believed to have between 10 and 14 percent THC content.
Small in stature, the cigarette is pricey.
Going for $10, skunk is believed to contain high intoxicating substances. Those hooked to it perform all kinds of crime to get the money to buy it.
A middleman who identified himself as Fire-Man, trading in various intoxicating drugs, skunk included, says despite the steep price, the drug has become the “in-thing”.
“Skunk sells like hot-cakes my sister. The good think about the drug is that small as it is, a maximum of five people can smoke from the same cigarette and manage to get high for the rest of the day,” he said.
“I’m not proud to be trading in drugs but at least I’m able to feed my family, clothe them and provide shelter.”
Fire-Man indicated that the skunk business is booming to the extent that they are now supplying other suburbs as well as other towns and cities.
The name of the drug, borrowed from the endangered species — the skunk — is a result of the pungent odour that the plant emits while growing.
Apart from looking drunk, those who would have taken the drug exhibit signs of drowsiness and their bodies show signs of stiffness and troubled mobility.
Scientists have concluded that smoking powerful skunk triples the risk of suffering a serious psychotic episode.
Findings of research carried out in London add to a compelling body of evidence that smoking strong cannabis “tilts the odds” towards a person developing psychosis, which leads to schizophrenia in about half of cases.
The study found that those who smoked skunk every day had five times the normal risk of experiencing extended episodes in which they heard voices, suffered delusions or demonstrated erratic behaviour.
Other side-effects related to skunk include heightened sense, mild euphoria, sickness, hallucinogenic effects, anxiety, paranoia and loss of co-ordination.
Usage of the same drugs is now haunting the national psyche as cases are reported to have increased in the past two decades.
At least 10 drug addicts are referred to hospitals and psychiatrists every month.
According to Fire-Man, the drug business involves truckers, the police, gangs and some politicians who smuggle marijuana from Mozambique and Malawi.
“My suppliers told me that they use Chidodo border post in Muzarabani and in some instances Nyamapanda to bring in dangerous drugs,” he said.
“Truckers now have a new way of using refrigerated trucks which aren’t subject to the same physical search like other trucks because it’s assumed they will be carrying perishable goods.”
Once the drugs are in Harare, they end up in some of the poorest suburbs where they are sold at various spots in Mbare, Highfield and Mufakose, among other many places.
In 2014, the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security revealed that Zimbabwe has 51 informal border posts.
It was highlighted that issues such as smuggling, stock theft and lack of proper travelling documents motivated people to use informal border posts.
A report produced by the police to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse in the country last year indicated that between 2013 and 2014, over 100 cases were being recorded every month. The Zimbabwe United Nations Association reveals that about 65 percent of Zimbabwean youths suffer from mental problems due to drug and substance abuse, and unemployment.
More than 5 000 Zimbabweans were convicted for drug-related crimes last year.
Zimbabwe Republic Police revealed that 5 445 people were arrested on various drug related crimes between January and December 2015 with ages between 15 and 35 being among the major users or abusers of drugs.
In recent years, a number of Zimbabweans have been arrested in other countries while smuggling hard drugs for a small fee.
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals psychiatric unit’s senior nursing officer, Mr Wellington Muroiwa, said the growing trend of drug abuse is a cause for concern.
“For Annexe, between 30 to 50 percent of our patients are drug-related. In the last quarter, the unit experienced 2 000 cases of drug-related repeat cases,” said Mr Muroiwa.
“Due to unemployment, the majority of youths are turning to drugs coupled with peer pressure, the availability of the substances and also continuous dependence on the drugs.”
Mr Muroiwa added that youths who abuse alcohol and other drugs persistently face a wide range of possible consequences.
“Abuse of drugs pose a number of side effects such as general deterioration of health, hypertension, liver problems or cancer, pancreatitis, loss of memory, delusions, psychosis and peripheral neurotherapy, among other diseases,” Mr Muroiwa said.
“Accidental injuries, possible overdoses, drug-related suicides, homicides, accidents and illnesses that may result in death for some youths are also some of the side-effects of drug abuse.”
A few years back, Andrew Malcom Rose and Norman Scott of Glen Lorne died at Parirenyatwa Hospital where they had been taken after an overdose of cocaine.
Those who abuse drugs are at an elevated risk of contracting HIV through engaging in unsafe sex with multiple partners.
Moreover, addiction treatment centres are few and the cost is prohibitive. Currently treatment costs range from $20 to $40 a day, well beyond the means of most of those who need care.
The high cost of treatment simply means that many of those who require help are not able to access it and remain in the streets, hooked on the drugs and alcohol.
Mr Muroiwa bemoans the lack of drug rehabilitation centres that work specifically towards dealing with drug addicts.
“Drug addicts are referred to the generic counselling centres in the country, which accommodate all depression and mental-related cases and Zimbabwe doesn’t have a public drug rehabilitation centre,” he explained.
The country has only one privately owned rehabilitation centre situated in Highlands.
Among the commonly abused drugs in Zimbabwe are marijuana, Broncleer (popularly known as Bronco) and Histalix D, ZED, whoonga, musambodhiya, heroine, glue and in some instances cocaine.
However, lack of comprehensive statistical data on drug abuse makes it almost impossible to quantify the intensity of the problem as the country is currently relying on informal surveys and arrests by police.
It is, however, believed that lighter sentences imposed on some of the convicted people discourage the police from taking risks of tracing such dangerous activities.
A Harare lawyer who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity believes there is need to revise current legislation to ensure these new drugs on the market are classified under the Dangerous Drugs Act which has provisions of a custodial sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
