MOST GULU YOUTH TURN TO DRUGS

Most youth in Gulu district have resorted to use of drugs as an
assumed remedy to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, a
psychiatrist at the Gulu mental health unit has revealed.

Dr. Thomas Oyok said the abuse of drugs had resulted into increased
cases of mental illness and poor performance at school.

Speaking at a training workshop for 40 teachers last week, Oyok said
many of the students abusing drugs were nursing thoughts of
committing suicide and some had experienced nightmares.

"Teachers might think a student is a slow learner but when you dig
deep, you find that he might have lost both parents, was abducted and
witnessed atrocities during the insurgency in the region."

He advised teachers to identify such cases and recommend them for
treatment.

The community liaison officer at the Gulu central Police station,
Johnson Kilama, said the Police on average arrest four teenage drug
abusers every week, including girls.