⅗ of Mental Health Issues Linked to Drug Abuse
More than 60% of admissions in mental health institutions can be traced to drug and illegal substance abuse.
This emerged during a workshop on drug policy and harm reduction held in the capital on Friday.
Zimbabwe Struggling with Alcohol Smuggling
Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Networks director Wilson Box said laws against drug abuse needed to be re-looked to fight the vice more effectively. Box said:
Let us have a situation or law which promotes inclusivity, an effective drug policy that looks at human rights.
Current laws are punitive to drug users.
Parliamentary portfolio committee on health and child care chairperson Daniel Molokele urged parliamentarians to push for progressive legislation.
We need to come up with other ways of dealing with the drug and substance use scourge.
Meanwhile…
The production and supply of illicit brews are a seemingly lucrative “business” that involves a number of players.
⅗ of Mental Health Issues Linked to Drug Abuse
It is an intricate web that begins with ethanol and methanol suppliers and extends to those who “manufacture” and package illicit brews before they find their way to various outlets.
The ethanol or methanol is mixed with some colouring and then diluted with water to reduce the alcohol content.
Hard Times: Kids Selling Tumbwa at Public Gatherings
The mixture, whose contents are often not calibrated, is then packaged as legitimate spirits, with imitation labels being stuck on the bottle.
Brands such as Two Keys, Cane Star and Bols Brandy are the most imitated products.
Counterfeit products of Jameson Irish whisky and 8PM are also being sold to unsuspecting consumers.
But some of the labels are often misspelt, with the popular Two Keys often adulterated and reading Two Kiys.
It is, however, very difficult to differentiate genuine whisky bottles from the fake ones when counterfeit stickers are printed using original samples.
Ethanol and methanol — the primary ingredients used in the production of fake alcoholic beverages — are readily available in Mbare.
A 20-litre container of ethanol is being sold for as low as US$25.
