By Zvikomborero Machirori
The streets of Harare have become flooded by drugs that have affected many youths including
those living in the streets.
The source and the supplier of these drugs have remained a mystery that communities are
struggling to put their fingers on.
Some have suggested that it is from well-organized cartels involving powerful individuals some
of whom have become untouchables.
They rub shoulders with those controlling the leavers of power and after all there is money to be
made.
Sadly, the youth have become the most affected as they find comfort in substance and drug
abuse.
The drugs that are now a common sight on the streets include Crystal Meth, Bronclear, Cannabis
and Mutoriro among others.
Medical experts fear that if the challenge is not stopped it will have a huge burden on the
country’s health sector and subsequently on the economy.
Lovemore and John, aged 24 and 23 respectively, live on the streets of Harare and say they use
the drugs everyday.
To sustain their drug supply, the duo says they resort to all kinds of activities to get money.
“At times we are hired for debt collection and we use unorthodox means to recover the money.
We are hired to beat up people by those who want to settle vendetta and this is how we get
money to buy our drugs,” the told this publication.
Lovemore told this reporter that he used to be a drug pusher himself.
“I used to sell these drugs but they got stolen that’s how the business stopped,” he said.
The duo also says they sometimes depend on menial joins to raise money for the drugs.
They said in unison, “As for us we don’t take harmful drugs such as Mutoriro and Crystal Meth
because we know now that they are dangerous to health.”
Lovemore said he consumes three bottles of Bronclear and weed in a day which he says makes
him feel better and forget about life troubles.
On the other hand, John prefers two bottles of two keys and weed to keep his mood high.
Despite the use of drugs John and Lovemore say they still find ways to protect themselves from
HIV/AIDS and other STIs having been infected before.
Health professionals have bemoaned the failure by authorities to curb drug and substance abuse
saying it will reverse gains made towards ending AIDS by 2030.
