03 Nov 2015

Sekgoma Memorial Hospital  has admitted 12 youths for abusing   drugs between January and  September this year, hospital psychiatric nurse, Ms  Militah Kabelo has revealed.

Speaking at the anti-drugs and alcohol abuse workshop recently in Serowe, Ms Kabelo said the youth were aged between 18 years and 25 years, adding that they had one case of a 16-year-old girl.

She explained that out of the 12 cases, four of them were Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) students while some were from junior secondary schools and senior secondary schools.

Ms Kabelo noted that the drug commonly abused in the Serowe catchment area included dagga and cocaine while others used a concoction of felt pens, shoe polish and cough mixture as drugs.

She appealed to members of the community who use people with mental illness as drug moles to desist from such practices. 

Sekgoma Memorial Hospital alcohol combating volunteer, Mr Lesetse Matshaba also said drug abuse was escalating in the Serowe region among the youth.

 Mr Matshaba said some drugs that were just seen on movies have infiltrated the country. 

He blamed the youth for using social media to establish which drugs and substances could be abused.

Mr Matshaba noted that people used to mix ARV’s with other substances to fulfill their drug abuse needs, and that some have started mixing dagga with human excrement.

He blamed street vendors for selling drugs to children, adding that they bake cakes with dagga.

He noted that drug peddlers have resorted to new ways of marketing their product such as hanging boots on the power   lines.

 “If you see boots hanging on electrical lines or electrical poles know that drug are sold in the vicinity,”

 He added that such scenes were common in Serowe even around the Serowe main kgotla.

In his welcome remarks, Officer Commanding Number 2 District, Mr Paul Molapisi said they took the decision to organise the workshop because of the alarming drug and alcohol abuse among the youth in the area. Mr Molapisi encouraged attendants to be role models and agents of change when they get back to their villages. Ends