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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
MS Tania Marubwa (32) from Riverside Suburb in Bulawayo started abusing mbanje at the age of 13 and by 17, she was snorting and selling cocaine.

The trauma of being raped at a minor age drove her to drug abuse, she says.

Ms Marubwa said while she started taking drugs as an escape from her traumatic past experiences, she ended up becoming a cocaine dealer.

She wants to stop taking drugs but says there is no help available as users are taken to a psychiatric hospital, Ingutsheni Central Hospital, instead of a drug rehabilitation centre.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the Bulawayo provincial commemorations of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Stanley Square in Makokoba suburb yesterday.

The day has been commemorated annually on June 26 since 1987 in recognition of the need for action and co-operation in promoting a drug free society.

“I can talk about my life because I am a real drug user, I have sold drugs and I’m a woman who uses drugs.

I started using drugs at the age of 13.

I got into drugs as I was trying to get over some abuse stuff which happened to me when I was younger.

But it was never dealt with, I never got any counselling services after the abuse.

I was sexually abused but I don’t want to talk more about it,” said Ms Marubwa.

She said as she struggled with her past experiences, peers told her that taking drugs could be a solution.

Ms Marubwa said she started taking marijuana but as she became more hooked into drugs, she ended up snorting cocaine.

“I was trying to address something that happened to me, something that caused mental trauma.

I started with cannabis, then I started using cocaine at the age of 17 and I ended up dealing in cocaine as well.

I was a runner for one of my classmates.

At that moment I wasn’t in Zimbabwe but learning and living in Botswana,” said Ms Marubwa.

She said at the moment she only takes alcohol and smokes marijuana.

Ms Marubwa said while she has tried to stop abusing drugs and alcohol, she continues to relapse.

She said the country does not have enough facilities to support individuals with drug problems.

Ms Marubwa said the only time she managed to stay away from drugs was when she fell pregnant and was sober for 13 months and 12 days, but has since relapsed.

“Right now, I need help but there is no rehab facility in Zimbabwe.

People tell us to go to Ingutsheni Central Hospital and at that hospital they are supposed to be helping us with counselling services, how to handle depression, anxiety.

But it is not doing that.

I don’t have a mental problem so I end up finding a synthetic solution in using drugs,” she said.

She said a lot of youths who abuse drugs and want help do not want to go to Ingutsheni Hospital as it is not a rehabilitation centre.

She said private rehabilitation services are too expensive and most youthful drug users cannot afford them.

Ms Marubwa has become an anti-drug abuse activist on a mission to discourage youths from taking her path.

“People call us a lot of names; they call us junkies and all sorts of names.

We are your children, we are your brothers, your parents but people use all these vulgar names.

Let us just use an umbrella term to describe us call us people who use drugs, we are not drug addicts, junkies and whatever name that is attached to us,” said Ms Marubwa.

“We need support as opposed to being punished.

We can talk about prevention; we talk about stop doing drugs but we need your help as people who use drugs.

We need an external support system for someone to quit their habit.

I will not stop when I’m being insulted.”

She said her aim is to educate other drug users about the dangers of drug abuse.

Ms Marubwa said some people were also abusing pharmaceutical drugs hence the need to spotlight the drug problem in a wholesome manner.

“We want people who have not started using them not to even think of indulging in them because, we now have health problems as a result of taking drugs.

And we want people to learn from the mistakes that we have made.

Also, we need people to understand that when we talk about drugs, we are not just talking about those that are found on the streets.

People abuse pharmaceutical drugs as well; a drug user can be anyone.

It can be someone sitting under a bridge, but some of the people who are users of drugs are working in hospitals as well as in offices,” she said.
– @nqotshili