The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
A sizeable chunk of youths in Manicaland are taking a highly addictive drug called crystal meth, The Manica Post has established.
The substance is also referred to as guka or dombo.
While the cough syrup, commonly known as BronCleer used to be popular, guka seems to have taken the lead.
Marijuana is also another popular drug abused by youths around the province.
But unlike marijuana and BronCleer cough syrup, crystal meth is a highly addictive illegal stimulant drug with a long-lasting euphoric effect.
Known informally as meth, ice, or glass, it resembles shiny “rocks” or fragments of glass.
It is known more formally as crystal methamphetamine.
The drug, which presents new evidence that it is no longer about cheap drugs among the youths as one needs around US$15 to purchase it, is an odourless, colourless form of a synthetic psycho stimulant.
It is made by combining ingredients derived from over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and toxic substances.
Over the weekend, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana, expressed concern over substance abuse among youths.
“We have to declare a war on drugs. They are frying our young people’s brains. The amount of money some of these young people are spending on these immoral ventures debunks the ‘jobless’ argument. Other young people are into farming, others into mining, let’s help the lost ones,” he said.
The Manica Post tracked down some young people in their drug abuse hang outs that include street corners as well as shop or backyards of bars.
The news crew also engaged the drug peddlers in an intensive week-long investigation into the underworld of drug abuse.
Users who range from as young as 13 to the mid-20s said meth is the only thing that can keep them “high” for lengthy periods, hence they get value for their money.
In a candid chat at a restaurant in Darlington, Mutare, a Form Four pupil at a local high school who declined to named said meth is “exciting”.
“Guka is worth the money I spend on it. Unlike marijuana, guka lasts longer and it is exciting.
“I started taking guka late last year. Since I was in Form Two I had been taking cannabis and BronCleer,” he said.
He said he was driven into drug abuse by his love for partying.
“I think this is something that I ended up doing because of my love for partying. I enjoy myself much more when I have ‘used’ guka,” he said. According to online sources, youths who abuse narcotics would have succumbed to peer and social pressure as well as adolescents’ rebellion, while others can be victims of abuse, trauma, boredom, curiosity and experimentation, among other reasons.
A 20-year-old Sakubva man, who also spoke on condition of anonymity and usually hangs out at a pub near Sakubva Stadium said he doesn’t remember how he became an addict.
“There is really nothing that I can blame for my drug abuse. I was raised by both parents and we never had food shortages at home. Perhaps it all started as part of adolescents’ rebellion and was later strengthened by peer pressure. I started ‘using’ guka early last year when I went to Harare. I liked it and since then I have not stopped,” he said.
An ‘expert’ in preparing the crystal meth concoction, who sells the drug for about US$15 to US$20 per gram and operates at a car wash in Mutare’s Central Business District said BronCleer and marijuana are considered “entry level” drugs.
He said most users feel the need to experiment with “more effective drugs” as time goes on.
“We get crystal meth from suppliers who buy the product from South Africa. We sell it here for US$15 to US$20 per gram and the price depends with the client. It is on demand since it has more severe effects on the consumer.
“Marijuana and BronCleer are considered entry level drugs and most users feel the need to experiment with more effective drugs like crystal meth,” he said.
The drug peddler allowed this reporter to observe as eight young people who were apparently his first clients of the day puffed the drug.
A small tube resembling a laboratory test tube – usually taken from energy saver bulbs – or a lollipop sweet pipe, is used in inhaling the drug.
The substance is placed in a thin glass that resembles a lighting bulb. lt is then partially burnt from the bottom of the bulb and it turns into a liquid.
As it transforms, it produces some intoxicating smoke that is inhaled using the aforementioned tube. The liquid solidifies with time after the heat is extinguished and can be used in the same manner again.
Up to 15 people can take turns to puff the drug, resulting in all of them getting intoxicated after taking as little as four ‘hits’.
One can spend up to two hyperactive days without any sleep after abusing this drug.
However, this self-destructive habit comes with costs to one’s health as very small particles of glass from burnt lighting bulbs also find their way into the consumers’ airwaves.
The substance is also harmful to the nervous system and can result in death.
Mutare medical practitioner, Dr Tafadzwa Mushamba, said meth affects the nervous system.
“The effects of the drug ranges from anxiety, confusion, paranoia, violence, sweating, restlessness, hallucinations and death. Weight loss due to not eating and sleeping well is also another biological effect.
“Its social effects include loss of jobs and dropping out of school,” said Dr Mushamba.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed that the abuse of meth is now the in thing in the province.
He said some users are getting the drug’s ingredients from vehicle boosters.
“This guka abuse is now presenting new challenges for us and the community at large. Unlike cannabis and other known drugs, there is need for medical confirmation, through our forensic science unit in Harare, whether the substance is actually crystal meth,” said Inspector Chananda.
He urged members of the public to safeguard their children to ensure they are not exposed to such harmful drugs.
“These are very harmful substances and we strongly discourage people from using them. We urge parents to ensure that their children are not exposed to such addictive and harmful drugs,” he said.
Apart from peer pressure, this practice is widely believed to be influenced by music, especially dancehall. Although music is used for positive growth in some areas, other genres send a negative message to the youths.
Some have argued that local youths have been impacted negatively by songs that chant about drugs, violence, guns, sex and other such things. In particular, some Zim-dancehall songs glorifies the use of marijuana, Bronco and Histalix.
The artistes sing songs about ‘kustika’and ‘kubatwa’, (getting high on drugs), and when the youths hear their icons glorifying these, they feel the need to mimic such behaviour.
Studies show that youths who indulge in substance abuse also have a tendency to partake in high risk activities, self-abuse, and in worst circumstances, death by suicide.
The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed annually on June 26 to advocate against the practise.
