By JOHN OYWA

Next time your child fails to surrender that Sh10 balance after a shopping errand, don't dismiss it as a non-issue. Instead, you need to be worried because it is highly likely the coin is being reserved for the drug peddler next door.

With the devolution of drug trade into the residential estates, money thirsty peddlers are now packaging drugs for as little as Sh10 to target young addicts.

Investigation by The Underworld reveals that Nairobi and other major urban centres are awash with various types of drugs, some of which even pass as sweets or chewing gums.

In most residential estates in Nairobi, for example, parents only realise their children are hooked to drugs when it is too late.

Martha Mwikali, a resident of Ofafa Maringo, thought it was no big deal when her 11-year-old son started pinching coins left on the kitchen table.

"Whenever I asked him, the boy would smile and tell me he used the coins to buy sweets. I was later shocked to learn he used the coins to buy bhang from a neighbour¡¯s house. I was lucky I managed to stop him from the habit," says Mwikali.

But another parent in Outer Ring Estate, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the drug lords, was not as lucky. His 14-year-old son is now a drug addict. "He used to ask me for coins but I didn¡¯t suspect he was using the money to buy drugs. I once returned home unexpected and found him smoking bhang. He has dropped out of school and is now very violent," he says.

Worsening situation

A recent survey by Nacada shows drug abuse among the youth is worsening every day. According to Nacada, drug abuse in Kenya is escalating rapidly ¡ª from the use of alcohol and cigarettes to more deadly ones such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

"Alcohol, substance and drug abuse among children, especially the urban adolescents, is not only a risky behaviour in this era of HIV and Aids, but also a potential source of security threat to a growing city like Nairobi," says the report.

The report further says that eight per cent of youth aged between 10-14 have used alcohol at least once in their life while 13 per cent have used cigarette and other drugs.

In another shocking report titled: Role of school environment in Alcohol and Drug abuse among students ¡ª evidence from public secondary school students in Nairobi, Nacada says learning institutions have become melting pots for drug abuse.

Deadly drugs

It says that unknown to many parents, teachers and even the police, students are consuming deadly drugs such as cocaine and heroin besides alcohol and bhang.

The report says alcohol was ranked as the most commonly abused drug in schools with a whooping 74 per cent of consumption. Some 58.1 per cent of students in various schools in Nairobi were smoking cigarettes while another 50.3 per cent of those interviewed by Nacada researchers said they were hooked to bhang.

The researchers also report an increase in addiction of prescription drugs such as Amphetamines, which are meant to treat specific diseases but are sold to drug addicts by wayward pharmacists because it makes them feel high. It is estimated that 56.3 per cent of students use such prescription drugs.

But of the biggest concern is the increasing use of cocaine and heroin among school going children in Nairobi. The report says 6.9 per cent of students in Nairobi are addicted to cocaine while another 4.2 per cent abuse heroin. About 2.6 per cent of the students interviewed use Mandrax and Amphemines.

Use of inhalants such as glue was also on the rise with 2.7 per cent of students interviewed in Nairobi using such drugs.

A counselling expert, Dr Elias Ngugi, says the high consumption of drugs among students was worrying and an indication that the drug lords were recruiting young clients to drive their illicit trade.

"Drug abuse among the youth is not only a public health concern, but a time bomb for this country. We should be very worried because drug abuse brings with it adverse consequences such as suicide, delinquency, crime and other socio-psychological complications," says Dr Ngugi.

The Nacada report says drug abuse is partly to blame for the breakdown of law and order in the country.

"Several riots in secondary schools and the subsequent destruction of property, arson, rape and loss of life in the recent past are usually attributed to alcohol and other drugs abuse among secondary school students," says the report.

Ultimate market

A senior police officer who requested anonymity because he is involved in a sensitive drug related investigation, said security agents were concerned that most drug barons were targeting the youth as their ultimate market.

"They are not only recruiting the youth as distribution agents but as consumers. We have had cases where young college students are lured into the drug trade, only to be killed whenever they tried to defect from the cartels," said the officer.

And in what should be food for thought for law enforcers and school administrators, reports from various studies show that schools were quickly becoming centres for drug abuse.

Interestingly, students interviewed in the Nacada survey said drugs were readily available in the vicinity of their schools and residential estates, proof that no child is safe from the drug lords.

But what is the remedy? A counsellor and motivational speaker, Evelyn Ogendo, says the high incidences of drug abuse among the youth was a symptom of the adolescence explosion, which she says can be addressed through family dialogue.

"Let us engage the youth and listen to their problems. Let us establish why they are turning to drugs," says Ms Ogendo.

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