Mozambique: Authorities concerned at increase in drug abuse

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Authorities concerned at increase in drug abuse

7:47 CAT | 29 Jun 2020

A message from President Filipe Nyusi urged young Mozambicans not to throw away their adolescence and youth on the consumption of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. [Photo: Noticias]

Mozambique’s Central Office for Preventing and Fighting Drugs (GCPCD) on Friday stressed its “great concern” at the increase in the consumption of illicit drugs by young Mozambicans.

In a statement issued to mark the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the GCPCD said it was alarmed to see that Mozambique is on the list of sub-Saharan African countries regarded as corridors for drug trafficking.

It said that, in 2019, Mozambican health units treated 9,065 cases of patients, mostly young people, with problems associated with the consumption of “psychoactive substances”. This is an increase of 35 per cent on the 6,720 people treated the previous year.

As might be expected, the largest number of cases – 3,318 – was in the capital, Maputo City, followed by Maputo province with 1,474 cases.

The problem with these figures is that they run together people suffering from alcohol abuse, and legal drugs such as tobacco, with cannabis and the hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

Most of the drugs seized by the police consist of cannabis, which grows readily in much of the country. In 2018, 5.3 tonnes of cannabis was seized, a figure that dropped by nearly 50 per cent to 2.7 tonnes in 2019.

One success the GCPCD reported was the seizure in 2019 of 232 kilos of heroin, the largest seizure in Mozambique of this drug for the past ten years. About 20 kilos of cocaine and 307 kilos of metamphetamine were also seized.

A message from President Filipe Nyusi urged young Mozambicans not to throw away their adolescence and youth on the consumption of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

“Drugs threaten and create vulnerabilities for the healthy growth of our young people”, said Nyusi, urging them “do not destroy the future of our country”.

“Drugs destroy health, they have a negative impact on the social and economic fabric of the country, and empower the practice of violent criminal activities, such as kidnappings, terrorism, money laundering, illicit financial transactions, bribery and corruption”, warned the President.

Nyusi added that it is the responsibility of the entire nation to raise the awareness of adolescents and youths to the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

Source: AIM