UPSURGE IN CONSUMPTION OF HARD DRUGS

Nairobi

Consumption of cocaine, heroine and mandrax has increased in
Kenya.

"Matters have been worsened by failure by the Ministry of Health to
put up rehabilitation centres as stipulated by section 52 of the Drug
and Substance Abuse Act of 1994, National Agency for the Campaign
Against Drug Abuse chairman Joseph Kaguthi said.

Mr Kaguthi claimed the ministry did not even prepare any guidelines or
standards as required by the Act.

The chairman told Muslim students at a seminar on drug abuse at Jamia
Mosque in Nairobi yesterday that the failure by the ministry was a
clear indicator of Government's inability to enforce laws to the menace.

Rehabilitation centres had been identified as key to fight abuse since
its the only avenue that breaks the chain by suppressing demand.

The process helped solve the problem at the family level as family
members were the most affected if one of their own was an addict.

"If you don't rehabilitate, multiple syndicates come up, which worsens
the problem of drugs and substance abuse," he said.

Mr Kaguthi took issue with Parliament's failure to pass a bill on
tobacco control, which has been pending since the early 1990s. He
blamed multinationals for the failure claiming that corruption could
be ruled out.

The cigarette is among the most abused substance and leads to
increased cases of disability as well as premature deaths, he said.