FOLLOWING the recent announcement by Harare Metropolitan Province Minister, Mr Tafdzwa Muguti that government will be arresting and jailing drug users, a local Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network(ZCLDN) has called on government to find alternative ways of dealing with the matter.
By Staff Reporter
The ZCLDN advocates for safer and less harmful ways of using drugs in those who use rather than criminalization of drug and substance abuse.
ZCLDN in a statement said jailing drug users was not the solution.
For starters, the utterances by the Hon Minister defeat the purpose and reasons on why the government of Zimbabwe adopted the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan as a guideline on how to deal with drug use in Zimbabwe. The utterances further rubbish the country`s interministerial committee which was put in place by His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, as a vehicle to deal with all issues that deal with drug use in Zimbabwe.
“While we agree that the excessive use of drugs and dangerous substances should be stemmed, especially now that the practice has permeated into our schools, we respectfully beg to differ with the notion that arresting the drug users is the way to go. For God’s sake, these people deserve harm reduction, rehabilitation and not criminalisation and arrest as exhorted by the Hon. Minister,” said Mr Box.
He added that the Minister’s utterances were eposiing him of his ignorance
“We have every reason to doubt whether the Hon. Minister is even aware of these instruments and measures put in place by the government to deal with people who use drugs and dangerous substances in Zimbabwe. According to the just completed Zimbabwe Situational Analysis on Drug Use in Zimbabwe, illicit drug use is a public health concern rather than a criminal issue. Further, Zimbabwe’s jails cannot accommodate nearly a quarter of a million Zimbabweans who are reportedly taking drugs across the board.”
He says the stance taken by the Minister is a sign that his office and advisors do discriminate and stigmatise people who use drugs in Zimbabwe.
“It is disconcerting that instead of alleviating the plight of people who use drugs through the provision of treatment services and harm reduction drop-in centres, the Honourable Minister found it prudent to condemn the already burdened young men and women amongst us who deserve rehabilitation and not criminalisation.
It is pertinent in the context of the Hon. Minister’s ill-informed utterances to note that Section 76(1) of the Zimbabwean Constitution provides that “…every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has the right to access basic health-care services, which include reproductive healthcare services.” Section 76(2) further states that “…every person living with a chronic illness has a right to have access to basic health-care services for the illness”.
As such, for Zimbabwe to win over the scourge of illicit drug use, there is need for drug policy reform and decriminalization of drug use in order to find sustainable and evidence-based alternatives that are grounded in the promotion and respect of human rights. There is need for the government of Zimbabwe to fund the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan and the Interministerial Committee to do its work according to the plan.
“ZCLDN further believes that, criminalization will force people who use drugs to go underground in hidden spaces and shun healthcare services. As such, to address the health concerns of people who use drugs, rather than criminalizing and incarcerating them , it is prudent to establish drop-in centres to cater for harm reduction services, treatment, detoxification, rehabilitation, psycho-social support and community reintegration.
“We therefore refer the government to consider the recommendations of the Situational Analysis on Drug Use and Injection held recently in 5 Provinces to inform the TB and HIV Programming in Zimbabwe that was spearheaded by ZCLDN in partnership with the National AIDS Council, UNAIDS and the Global Fund.The recommendatioms urge harm reduction, rehabilitation and not criminalisation and arrest as called for by the Hon. Minister.”
