Back in 2016 when radio personality Ann Ssebunya started the Drugs Hapana Initiative (DHA), the aim was to create awareness and prevention of drugs and substance abuse in her community.
Over the years, DHA has grown to cover the nation. Last weekend, it went a notch higher to create the National Prefects Conference, a forum where Ssebunya and other experts mentored young people to realize their full potential and empower them to act as change agents, write ASHLEY AINE and TIMOTHY NSUBUGA.
More than 200 prefects from various schools from the north, east, south, west, and central teamed up at Nile hall Hotel Africana for the National Prefects Conference.
A team of mental health specialists from Butabika hospital led by the executive director Dr David Basangwa, Dr Kenneth Ayesiga and Dr Eric Kwebiiha, among others, together with a well-prepared group of facilitators, took to the floor to explain the situation of global and national drug use among the youth and the causes and effects of drug abuse on mental health amongst the youth of this nation.
The use of alcohol and drugs during adolescence and early adulthood has become a serious public health problem in Uganda. The World Health Organisation global status report 2024 stated that Uganda has one of the highest alcohol and substance abuse rates in the world.
In another study done on drug and substance abuse in the schools of Kampala and Wakiso, it was found that 60% to 71% of the students used illicit drugs, with alcohol and cannabis taking the biggest percentages. These facts were presented by the head girl of Nabisunsa Girls School in her articulate speech, backed by research she carried out with a team of nine from her prefectorial body.
The global situation on drug use today, according to the World Drug Report research, shows a higher increase in the abuse of drugs by young people in this generation than has ever been recorded in history. Thirty-five million people have suffered and are suffering from drug use disorders, and the majority of people under rehabilitation in Africa are under 35 years of age.
As per the drug abuse state in Uganda, with evidence from hospitals, schools, community surveys and police, it has been found that the country is now a consumer Uganda with alcohol use as high as 12.21pp and a heavy use of hard drugs, that is, hallucinogens like marijuana, mushrooms, phencyclidine/angel dust (smoked or snorted), ketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as CIA truth serum, aviation fuel, codeine (cough syrups), cocaine, khat (mairungi), herion, kuber and ice, among many others.
Dr Basangwa, in his well-detailed PowerPoint presentation, showed what the drugs looked like and their names. He stated that although there might be some who think he is enabling and triggering curiosity for people to use drugs, he noted that while handling cases of drug abusers, they had all regretted not knowing the effects of what they were taking and wished they had known.
So, his purpose today was to inform the youth of the various drugs and the effects they can have on a person, and to raise awareness among the youth.
"We cannot fight what we do not know, as drugs come in many forms," he said.
The head teacher of Kitintale Progressive School revealed in an interview that he once found one of his students with a watch that emits flavoured tobacco smoke, or, in simple terms, a vape watch. Another speaker told of how a vape fell from the belongings of a girl walking with her mother at school, and the poor woman picked it up, not knowing what it was.
He continued by giving an example of the alcohol and drug unit in Butabika, which is mostly filled with young people--people who have dropped out of school, while those still studying are also brought by their parents for rehabilitation. The theme of the conference called for the discussion of psychoactive drugs and their abuse.
These are the types of drugs that usually work on the brain to cause mood changes, but the catch is their addictive effect if abused. Questions arose from the audience to the doctors panel: does it feel good to do drugs? Why does a person get addicted to drugs? and why would anyone opt for drugs? What would encourage someone to try these dangerous substances?
EXPERT TAKE
The panel of mental health doctors took turns answering, explaining first that addiction comes about because drugs have the capacity to change the way the brain functions; it changes the functionality of the brain that makes it need the drug on a daily basis, which is what we call addiction.
There are various inexhaustible factors--environmental, social, and economic--that bring or cause people to try drugs. A perfect example of an environmental factor is the recent global pandemic that brought a high rise in drug abuse in our country. The pandemic saw the use of narcotic drugs as recreational means, and as the youth had too much time on their hands, they turned to drug use.
Others do drugs for experimental purposes or, rather, out of curiosity. The speaker, reminiscing about his days in school, tells of how they had students in school who were known smokers of marijuana, and the whole time, out of curiosity, he had wanted to try it, but when he did, he didn't like the feeling, and that was the end of it.
But there are some unlucky ones that will try it and like the feeling, and they will go back again to get that feeling. Aggrey Kibenge, the permanent secretary of the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said the major factors causing the youth to engage in drug use are peer pressure, family history or exposure to drugs, the feel-good feeling, loneliness, depression, the issue of abuse at home that cripples the mental states of children as they grow, the absence of parents during childhood,
As the speakers told of the effects of the drugs on the young leaders, one of the prefects voiced her concerns about who is qualified to advise or counsel drug users-- someone who has gone through the same ordeal.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
ENTER CHANDIRU
Ssebunya, the organiser, scheduled Jackie Chandiru, someone with firsthand experience in addiction and recovery, to facilitate a 20-minute session with the young leaders. She walked through the conference hall as she told and showed the story and scars from her addiction.
Chandiru had certainly been blessed by God; as she testifies, it was He who pulled her back.
She had had an accident and had a back injury that required surgery. This injury caused her a lot of pain, and it was then that the doctors prescribed her a painkiller called pethidine. She used it too much and got addicted to the point where she did the injections herself.
She told the prefects that if she falls sick and needs an IV, the only place it would be put is in her neck, as the veins in her arms or limbs are dead. She lost her husband, and her music career was almost failing because she had lost the morale of going to the studio and writing songs; all she wanted was pethidine.
She mentioned a person who helped her through these trying times was the MC for the event, Paul Waluya, a clinic therapist and mental health specialist.
The event ended quite successfully as the theme was discussed fully, not to forget the memorable ice breakers, particularly the one that had the whole hall acting like a banana plantation in a windy situation with Waluya blowing air into the microphone for the wind sound effect.
