Drugs in school
The National Drug Authority (NDA) says there is rampant smuggling of drugs and alcohol in schools, un noticed.
Learners at Primary and Secondary levels are now openly using drugs in school, disguised as biscuits and sweets which is affecting their general performance.
Dr. Hellen Ndagijje head of drug safety at NDA says recent surveys done with school heads and staff show that learners are wildly consuming a common substance called Kuba that is almost impossible to detect.
The drugs that come packaged in form of biscuits, sweets and other forms are smuggled in by a network of criminals that are difficult to trace as well. It is upon this back-drop that the NDA is working with Church of Uganda to curb drug and substance abuse in Anglican secondary schools.
Under this campaign, teachers and school heads at 5,200 primary and 630 secondary schools will be trained on how to detect and handle cases as they arise.
Drugs in school
Dr. Medard Bitekyerezo, the Board Chairman at NDA says up to 70 percent of the youth are unemployed and therefore find solace in such substances that give them a high.
He says in 2015 when NDA did a study in Gulu and Kampala, 70 percent of the youth acknowledged having used a form of a drug while more than 30 percent revealed to have become habitual drug abusers.
NDA will be operating in all the 37 Dioceses under the Church of Uganda where they will hold training and enroll in care for those that will come out to confess their drug abuse-related problems.
