24 Feb 2020

Masunga Police Station Commander Supt Gaolatlhe Ngayaya called on all stakeholders to ensure that students refrain from drugs and substance abuse.

Giving a keynote address during the Francistown Police Station Anti-Drug and Substance abuse Workshop at the northern city recently, Supt Ngayaya observed that pupils converged in malls to do crooked things such as selling and using drugs.

She said that parents do not pay attention to their children’s whereabouts nor bother to search their children’s school bags while they continued to shower them with more money that enabled them to maintain their bad habits such as purchasing drugs.     Supt Ngayaya said that the use of drugs and other substances was growing in Francistown with alcohol and dagga being the most commonly used as they were easily accessible.

She urged parents to stop drinking alcohol in-front of their children or sending them to buy them alcohol. She also encouraged learners to report those engaged in selling or using drugs at school and consult parents and teachers on drugs and substance abuse.

Supt Ngayaya told workshop participants to deceit from modeling things that are being done on television or social media and follow activities that will up lift their lives after completing school.

She cautioned parents to cease giving their children dagga and other substances to sell at school, an observation they became conscious of during their random raids at schools.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse from Jubilee hospital Ms Serati Chipo said that drugs are any chemical substance that effect in the body. Ms Chipo said initially people use drugs as an experiment and eventually end up being involved and addicted to drugs.

She highlighted that drugs are administered differently such as being, sniffed, swallowed, injected or sucked adding that the use of drugs can end up damaging the brain or leading to suicides as a result of depression and financial problems.

The mental health nurse echoed that those affected should go to the clinics for assistance and avoid negative peer pressure that may lead to teenage pregnancies, addiction or being infected by HIV/AIDS.

Ms Chipo said while education is a basic requirement of life, use of drugs derail such as the school performance drops and they end up abusing their teachers which can lead to them being expelled from school.

Narcotics, Fauna and Flora Investigations (NFFI) Detective Constable-Northern Division Mr Bright Lithemba said if one is not using drugs but found in the company of drug users, they can also be arrested their culpability being their knowledge of what is going around.

Mr Lithemba said that the effects of drugs are dangerous as one can end up losing their arm, contacting diseases, having mental problems, dental problems or being imprisoned or fined a lot of money. ENDS