By Kefiloe Kajane
Slightly more than two percent of deaths in Lesotho occur as effects of drug abuse, it has been revealed.
According to a study conducted by the Africa Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) the drug abuse in developing countries such as Lesotho impacts negatively on both the economy and the society.
Conducted recently, the survey conducted by this non-profit Catholic nuns organisation, showed that approximately 350 000 people die each year from the effects of alcohol and drug use in Africa. Of these deaths,47 percent occur as a result of drug use.
Speaking on drug abuse, a recovering cocaine addict Tumelo Khobotle said he has now been sober for three years and counting.
In an interview with theReporter this week Khobotle said before quitting cocaine he had been using it for more than five years having started when he was 15 years old.
He said it started when he was in boarding school in South Africa and what started as just experimenting amongst friends, let to him being a drug addict which forced him to leave school at the time.
“We were just boys experimenting with cigarettes at first but one day a friend came with cocaine and we were just trying it. It gave me a feeling that I could not explain and because I was already going through bullying at school, I liked feeling like I could escape that for a moment when I was high.
“I knew I was addicted when I could not wait until it is break time at school so that me and my friends could go and smoke. We used to mix it with cannabis. When the teachers found out we were suspended and I came back to Lesotho.
“My parents did not take me to a rehabilitation centre but to the churchwhere they prayed for me. But I continued taking on the stuff. Eventually I quit school and I was stealing from family and friends; that is when my uncle took me to South Africa for rehabilitation. It was very hard especially coming back and mingling with my friends that were still using the substance. But I stood my guards as I was older and resorted to remaining sober,” Khobotle said.
The Sustainable Health Education Livelihoods Training, Equity and Rights (SHELTER), an organization that deals with vulnerable people’s———– executive director Nthabeleng Moshoeshoe, said from the study that they undertook they found that in Lesotho most of the people use hard drugs like cocaine.
She said they try to help and refer drug addicts to different rehabilitation centres but the challenge is that there are just limited numbers of such facilities.
She indicated that many people fall into drug abuse because of recreational purposes with a significant number starting the consumption at parties.
Again, she added, depression also takes a toll on some people who then resort to taking drugs to reduce the condition.
“Other people like sex workers become addicts because they are introduced to the substances by their clients. Due to a want to impress their clients they fall into the trap and start using the substances. We have so many people who use hard drugs especially the youth.
“We work with different organisations and try to give them counselling because we do not have enough rehabilitation centres,” she said.
The United Nations International Day against illegal drug trade and abuse is annually marked on June 26.
