Letter to the editor Sunday Chronicle 26 September 2011
The widespread use of homebrew and marijuana in the Simbu Province especially among women and young girls as reported in the media is quite alarming.
The fact that women and girls are now the dominant users of illicit druugs is indicative of a drug culture having reached a new demographic threshold. Traditionally it was men and young boys who were dominant users. The current trend shows cultural breakdown and family disintegration of unprecedented proportions.
Women with their caring, loving and conservative dispositions are naturally regarded as stabilizing factors in families and communities. They are the cornerstone of family values that is being decimated by illicit drugs. Society is reaching a tipping point.
There is a strong correlation between illicit drug use and the escalation rate of social dysfunction. Social ills such as prostitution, murder, rape, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, violence against women, teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, psychotic disorders, lifestyle diseases and road fatalities are to a greater degree attributable to drug consumption.
As Director-General of the National Narcotics Bureau, it really pains me to read about problems of illicit drugs.
John Mapusa
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