CSOs Urge Govt To Amend Dangerous Drugs Act
Civil society organisations (CSOs) have implored the government to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act and Criminal Codification Act, saying the laws do not classify drugs such as crystal meth as illegal substances.
Crystal meth commonly referred to as guka/mutoriro or dombo has become one of the leading drugs abused by youths, including schoolchildren.
In response to the drug “epidemic”, the Police have intensified operations against drug abuse resulting in the arrest of more than 2 000 people.
In a report published by NewsDay titled Drugs and Hard Substance Abuse: The New Menace in our Public Education System, the CSOs said:
Zimbabwe is required to review its current outdated legislation to include various types of drugs like crystal meth that are not explicitly covered by the Criminal Codification Act and the Dangerous Drugs Act.
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Despite the existence of these regulations, only the scheduled drugs which are named in the Dangerous Drugs Act read together with the drugs named under section 155 of the Criminal Code are construed to be dangerous.
This means that drugs such as methamphetamine (guka/mutoriro or dombo) are not spelt out in the Criminal Code or the Dangerous Drugs Act.
As such, the Dangerous Drugs Act of Zimbabwe and the Criminal Code are not contemporary with the trending drugs.
Therefore, the youth are taking advantage of these legal gaps and are now using drugs that do not attract court action such as sodium polyacrylate extracted from diapers because diapers or pads are legal products found everywhere in public.
Hence, there is a need for more focused drug legislation that allows drug abuse survivors to seek help without fear of criminalisation and facing other penalties.
According to this line of argument, illicit drug use is a public health concern rather than a criminal issue.
