A plea to government to crack the whip on drugs

The Monitor Editor | Tuesday October 31, 2023 06:00

Parents live in constant fear that their children who have become addicted to drugs may harm them, looking for money to get a ‘fix’. Some parents have even decided to kick their children out of their homes because they tend to sell anything they come across when they want to buy drugs.

There have been instances where a parent was murdered by their own child who was demanding money to go and satisfy their urge for drugs.

Unconfirmed reports have suggested that one of the reasons why it is so easy for illicit drugs to find their way into our country is because powerful individuals within government are the drug lords! Our children’s futures are being destroyed just because some greedy people want to get rich through illegal means. Government needs to start cracking the whip on drugs, which nowadays seem to be very easy to access even in villages. The Botswana Police Service (BPS) has been doing extremely well when it comes to the Kgomo Khumo operation.

It is important for the challenge of drugs to also be given priority and the same or even more attention. We understand that drug peddlers have become even more aggressive as they force the drugs on young unsuspecting children in order to get them hooked on the stuff. These are our children and our future leaders and we need to protect and guard their safety jealously.

Those who have been hired by drug lords to sell drugs on the streets have started targeting school going children. Many of our children in primary, junior and senior secondary schools are already hooked on drugs. Drug addiction is not a joke, it completely messes up someone’s thinking capacity and the only thing that the person thinks about is how they can get their next hit.

Drug addiction interferes with a person’s ability to exert self-control and as a result the person becomes less and less productive and spends all his/her time binging on drugs. Many young people have actually overdosed and died, because as the person continues using drugs, the quantity and urge increases, which may become too much for the body to handle.

We are pleading with the government to come-up with some kind of operation to clean our streets and to also review the penalties for those who are selling drugs. The war against drugs can be won, we just need to focus and join hands to save our children.