Mombasa county governor aspirant Suleiman Shahbal has said fighting drugs will be in his first priority if elected.
He said the rampant drug menace in Mombasa is a threat to the youth and the county's development. Shahbal was speaking during the launch of Mombasa Inter-colleges and Universities Students Association in Mombasa on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the anti- drug war in the county got a boost as a lobby group walked to raise money for rehabilitation of former drug users. The groups held the charity walk under the umbrella of Sharrif Nassir Foundation, Mombasa Maize Milers and the Hassan Joho Foundation. "I lost my brother to drugs while two family members have been rendered junkies. I want residents of Mombasa from Mshomoroni to Shika Adabu to Miritini to unite and eradicate the menace," he said.
He said it is too much to expect some leaders, who he claimed are targeting drug money for their campaigns to fight the menace. "Nobody will deter my quest to restore the lost glory of this city. Let's get united regardless of tribe, race and age to fight this menace," Shahbal said. He told the youth that his leadership will create employment for them, adding that no graduate in the county will be jobless because job creation will be his priority.
On Saturday morning, the groups held a procession in town before converging at Mombasa's historic Tononoka ground to educate the youth on the dangers of drugs. Abdulswamad Sharrif Nassir, chairman to Shariff Nassir Foundation, said the campaign is aimed at raising funds for rehabilitation programmes of former drug users. "We plan to collect between Sh6 million and Sh9 million from the walk. Drug abuse has become a menace in this town and we hope our efforts will yield fruit," he said.
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Excerpts from the Australian Drug Policy report titled: "The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are all letting it happen."
“For us, when we lost our son, we did not seek sympathy, we saw the injustice and craziness of our drug laws. We wanted people to focus on that, not on our suffering.” – Marion and Brian McConnell are founding members of 'Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform'.
“Many people who think of themselves as the beneficiaries of prohibition are really net losers. Parents are much more at risk of losing their children under prohibition than they would be if there was some kind of system where we had some measure of control over illicit drugs.” – Hon Professor Peter Baume AC, Former Chancellor of the ANU and Minister for Health in the Fraser Government
“I think the idea that prohibition kills is an important one. So my plea is how can we get governments to buy into this issue? I think they need to see that what they are doing and not doing, is causing a lot of the harms. At some stage they have to be held accountable for allowing this to happen.” – Hon Professor Geoff Gallop AC, Former Premier of Western Australia
“What we want governments to do is feel quite uncomfortable about the predicament they have put us in. They are running a system that is causing a whole lot of harm." - Hon Michael Moore, CEO Public Health Association of Australia and former Minister of Health for the ACT
“I am strongly in favour of legalising, regulating, controlling and taxing all drugs." - Nicholas Cowdery AM QC Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW from 1994 to 2011
“The key message is that we have 40 years of experience of a law and order approach to drugs and it has failed.” - Hon Dr Michael Wooldridge, Former Health Minister in the Howard Federal Government
"The current policy of prohibition discredits the law, which cannot possibly stop a growing trade that positively thrives on its illegality and black market status. Like the failure of the prohibition of alcohol in the USA from 1920 to 1933, the current prohibition of illegal drugs is creating more harms than benefits and needs to be reconsidered by the Australian community."
"The move against prohibition is gathering momentum in other countries across the ideological spectrum as communities around the world place responsibility for the costs of prohibition where it belongs: with those legislators who continue, by default, to support the international prohibition approach."
"Beneficiaries of the current approach include the law enforcement industry, those who benefit from the occupancy of prisons and a thriving insurance industry that insures residents for the high rates of household crime. The converse of this is that law-abiding citizens are the biggest losers."
"Because the issue is trivialised in sound bites such as “Tough on Drugs” or “Soft on Drugs” the realities of prohibition are not seriously discussed and the major harms that result from this failed policy are not being addressed."
"By maintaining prohibition and suppressing or avoiding debate about its costs and benefits, it can be argued justifiably that our governments and other influential sectors of the community are standing idly by while our children are criminalised."
"It is time to reactivate Australian debate on this matter, drawing attention to the accountability of governments for allowing an unacceptable situation to persist , and the fact that the community has allowed this to happen."
"Drug taking undoubtedly produces serious harms to individual drug users and their families. Many of the harms to them, to others and to society at large are a result of the national policy of prohibition and criminalisation which, arguably, increases, rather than decreases, the risks of more people becoming drug dependent."
The discussion included 24 former senior state and federal politicians, experts in drug policy and public health and former law enforcement officers.
http://www.australia21.org.au//publications/press_releases/Australia21_Illi cit_Drug_Policy_Report.pdf