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Leonard Ncube,n Victoria Falls Reporter
COULD this be a curse to the generation or a sign of the end times?

There is a new plaque that is threatening to destroy the youths.

While the country could have been relaxing thinking it had won the war against the vuzu parties craze that hit Bulawayo in recent years, the worst is on the doorstep.

Children as young as six years old are feared to be drug addicts following the discovery of prevalence of abuse of powdered fruit drinks.

There has been widespread concern in Victoria Falls after discovery that kids from Grade One up to Grade Six have been snorting the powders in the same manner that drug addicts sniff cocaine.

Police fear traces of dangerous drugs are being added to the powders thereby slowly turning children into addicts.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has launched an investigation into the issue.

The abuse is widespread across the country and some schools in Victoria Falls and Bulawayo have been named as places where pupils are indulging in this wayward behaviour.

Inquiries by the Chronicle revealed that pupils cut plastic bottle tops and join two lids together after which they drill a small hole from where they will be snorting the powder which they would have fed inside the sealed lids.

Those who sniff the powders are said to develop continuous flue like conditions while also showing other funny behaviour.

Small businesses such as tuckshops and vendors have been making brisk business in the past few months that the schools have been open as sachets of the powdered drinks sold like hot buns.

A sachet costs between $15 and $20 depending on whether one is buying from a tuckshop or a vendor. The vendors usually sell in front of school gates.

Pupils would buy on the pretext that they want to add water and drink but go on to sniff the powder.

It is feared that the trend had been going on for months until about a fortnight ago during the final week of the just ended school term when some parents and schools authorities discovered the delinquent behaviour.

Some schools carried out internal investigations and invited parents of some of the identified learners, both boys and girls after noticing suspicious behaviour.

Some would act funny while others would be laughing uncontrollably or getting violent.

Most of the children who sniffed the substance enjoyed getting numb, colloquially known as sticking.

At face value, the powders are a healthy beverage that supplement one’s body with necessary nutrients and minerals as it is made using different ingredients from organic fruits and veggies for optimum nutrition.

For the poor families, powdered fruit drinks are economic in the sense that from a small sachet of 100 grammes, one can dilute the contents with a lot of water and obtain over a litre of juice.

Parents both in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls were concerned when alert schools authorities discovered the trend of sniffing the powders.

They said the behaviour primed pupils for sniffing dangerous drugs like cocaine as they grow older.

Mr John Matumbura of Victoria Falls said his 12-year-old son was almost involved in the drug abuse.

He implored authorities to ban sale of powdered fruit drinks in public and urged parents to always monitor children.

“I heard some kids talking about it and when I spoke to my son, he told me how some children in schools were doing it. I alerted other parents on WhatsApp and I was shocked by the number that testified that many children knew about this. What we then discovered is that children sometimes disappear from home and this could be the time they sniff drugs,” said Mr Matumbura.

“Kids say they just enjoy sniffing. As parents we should monitor our children and know every move, they make so that we minimise drug abuse. We know our children’s behaviour and it is easy to pick when they start acting funny. We need good communication between parents, teachers and children so that we break the cycle of drug abuse. Government should help us by banning this product,” he said.

Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association chairman Mr Kelvin Moyo called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to fight the rot.

He commended schools authorities that quickly discovered the behaviour and alerted parents but implored law enforcement agents to investigate as there are fears of involvement of drug lords.

Matabeleland North Provincial Education Director Mr Jabulani Mpofu said investigations are underway.

He said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had engaged various stakeholders including churches, local authorities and vendors who sell different kinds of goods.

Mr Mpofu said a specialised department of Schools Psychological Services will be deployed to schools and communities so that the issue is solved without affecting children’s future.

“We are working on the issue as we are aware that this is affecting children. We have spoken to heads of the affected schools and engaged quite a number of children and other stakeholders. We want to embark on an awareness campaign to highlight this issue. We are not looking at targeting any kid because we don’t want them to be affected psychologically,” said Mr Mpofu.

A tuckshop operator Mr Bernard Sihwaba Ncube of Mkhosana said powdered fruit juices were among products that sell fast.

“This is one of the fast moving products but all the same we are not happy with what is happening. The challenge is that the powders are readily available and kids can buy them anywhere. Some parents also buy them because they can’t afford other juices for their children so they rely on the cheaper powders when packing their school lunchboxes. This will make it difficult to control the situation,” he said.

Health expert, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya who is also acting Mpilo Central Hospital chief executive officer said the substance just like other dangerous drugs, can cause brain memory loss, very aggressive behaviour, psychotic attacks especially if used in conjunction with other substances like imbanje.

He said a person who abuses drugs when young develops bad history and is not likely to achieve anything in life

“We don’t encourage anyone to take any drugs because they are addictive. One ends up relying on them which is not good. You don’t become a normal person because your life will depend on the drugs hence we strongly discourage any use whether recreational or otherwise,” said Prof Ngwenya.

He said drugs should be prescribed by a medical doctor.

Prof Ngwenya said addiction leads to one wanting to buy more drugs and ending up involved in criminal activities.

He said children who sniff the powders become hyper active and will not concentrate in school, which is a disaster even to parents.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said while this could be a new trend there are fears some drugs are being added to the product.

He said children will be exposed to abuse and crime.

“We had not experienced that before but we are worried about presence of vendors near schools as this creates an opportunity for children to receive contaminated foods. Once a person is introduced to drugs, he or she becomes a willing buyer in future. If you look at most child abuse cases, victims will be given drinks laced with substances that affect them. We can’t blame the brand at this stage but need behaviour change among citizens,” said Insp Ncube. — @ncubeleon.