Zanzibar should seriously fight drug abuse

When one speaks about Peshawar you always think of the famous basmati rice grown in the Peshawar province in north Pakistan.

But this may not be the case in Zanzibar. For many people, especially the young ones, Peshawar is a place in the old Stone Town which is famous neither for the Bismati rice or well prepared biriani plate, but drugs which has over the past few years destroyed the lives of hundreds of people in towns and villages.

Other famous drug shopping bazaars in the Zanzibar Municipality have peculiar names.

It is common when you pass at these places to see someone following you for a few steps and humbly tells you “Assalam alaeikum”. Before you respond by telling him “Aleikum Salam”, he quickly asks you if you are in need of “refreshment”.

But this particular refreshment is not a drink, but a tiny packet of illicit drugs which is being sold in that area.

In fact, many people in Zanzibar know where to get heroine, cocaine and other illicit drugs easily and yet you hear stories that there is a programme to get hold of all those engaged in the trade and the practice.

It is the result of this horrible situation that a Member of the Zanzibar House of Representative for the Mpendae Constituency in Zanzibar Town, Mr Mohamed Said Mohamed, moved a private member’s motion in the recent session of the House to discuss and resolve what to do to take care of this alarming situation.

During the discussion, some of the members narrated in a very sad tone shocking stories of the situation in different parts of the islands and regretted that several Isles youths are now serving long term jail sentences and others sentenced to death after being caught dealing in drug trafficking.

At present the lives of thousands of people in Zanzibar have been directly or indirectly been affected by drugs, the result of which more sober houses are now being opened after short intervals on both islands of Unguja and Pemba.

The drug abuse by many youth has witnessed an increase in violent small drug offenses, while major traffickers are left undisturbed despite some of them being caught at the airport and the Zanzibar harbour with the “cargo” in their stomachs.

On the other hand, the drug abuse has resulted with an increase of HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs while their family members suffer psychologically and physically.

Overall, the lack of adequate response by the authorities and the public at large has led to great frustration among affected communities as drug related problems have continued to mount and have become a key national concern.

At present Zanzibar has more than 20 sober houses, but the question is: “Are those running these centres have the expertise, skill and experience of rehabilitating the lives of those addicted by the drugs?

Frankly speaking, most these houses can simply be described as assembly points for those affected by the drug abuse and do not have people who are competent enough to undertake this herculean task of reforming those affected.

In most of these sober houses there is a lack of a stable, alcohol and drug-free living environment and this is a serious obstacle to sustained abstinence. We must not turn a blind eye to the fact that destructive living environments can derail recovery for even highly motivated individuals.

Unless there are serious interventions Zanzibar may live to regret for not responding effectively to the challenges of drug trafficking and use in the islands.

Time has come to embrace a different approach and adopt policies that are based on public health, community safety, human rights and development in a mre serious manner.

Of late we have heard announcements of an all-out war against drug trafficking and use.

Unfortunately, there has been too much talking on the seriousness of the drug problem rather than taking the rights steps to rectify this sad scenario which has led to an increase of crime rate and degrading morale, social and cultural values of the people in these Indian Ocean islands.

It is high time that the authorities, the police, civil societies and health officials sit together and look for ways that could help Zanzibar get away with this dangerous trend , now moving at a fast pace, which threatens the present and future generations.

Mr Salim is a veteran journalist.