ALARM OVER DRUGS: UNREST IN SCHOOLS BLAMED ON DRUGS

Nairobi - About 92 per cent of youths have experimented with a variety of
narcotics, says Kaguthi

An assortment of hard drugs recovered from traffickers in Nairobi.
Drug abuse is widespread in learning institutions.

It was business as usual for traders in Isiolo on Moi Day. There were
no public festivities related to the holiday and the traders did not
expect anything untoward.

But the tranquil atmosphere was broken by a drunken mob which began
looting, scrambling for alcoholic beverages, urinating and vomiting on
the shop verandahs.

Probably that is a normal scene in a country where drinking has become
a part of the culture, only that the people tormenting the traders
were students from Ciandama Secondary School, who had been on a one
day trip to Mt Kenya.

The incident was not the first.

Sometime last year, students from a school in Murang'a invaded local
urban centres looting, drinking and drug-taking. They harassed
motorists and beat up traders who refused to serve them drinks.

Such cases among students are not uncommon as more and more students
indulge in drugs and other psychotropic substances, sometimes with
fatal consequences.

Small wonder then that Mr Joseph Kaguthi, the National Campaign
against Drug Abuse boss, is warning that by 2007, drug abuse will have
claimed more lives than Aids in a country where 92 per cent of youth
aged between 16 and 26 have experimented with drugs.

Cases of students injuring each other in fights after taking drugs are
common.

The most infamous high profile cases blamed on drugs are the 1999
Nyeri High School arson in which four prefects were burnt to death by
their colleagues, and the Kyanguli Mixed School in which 67 students
lost their lives when their dormitories were set on fire.

In the Nyeri case, a student was found guilty of murder, while a
ruling is yet to be given in the Kyanguli case, in which two students
are facing murder charges.

Drug abuse and alcohol consumption have been blamed for riots in many
schools countrywide.

Last week, the Rift Valley deputy provincial director of education,
Mrs Alice Barno, said the ministry of Education had identified drug
abuse and alcohol consumption as being behind indiscipline in schools.

The prevalence of drug abuse in schools is worrying. Statistics by
researchers and agencies as well as forums discussing the problem
attest to the magnitude.

A 2001 report by the Central Province Education Board showed that drug
abuse contributed to indiscipline and poor performance in
examinations.

Nacada surveys show that about 90 per cent of students have
experimented with drugs and urges a ban on smoking in schools. But
implementing that may not be easy as it would be difficult to stop
teachers from smoking in their houses if they live in the school
compound, and at any rate, it would amount to limiting their freedom.

Other reasons are peer pressure, influence of the media, broken
families and lack of effective counselling and guidance programmes in
schools.