The civil society and the private sector should supplement government efforts to stop drug and substance abuse in Coast province.
Coast Provincial Commissioner (PC) Ernest Munyi said drug abuse among the youth had reached alarming levels, hence, the need to rope in various stakeholders to intensify the campaigns to stamp out the vice.
Speaking in Likoni in Mombasa during the International Day against drug abuse and trafficking, Munyi said drug abuse would slow down the country’s march towards the vision 2030, which aims at transforming Kenya into a medium industrialized economy.
The administrator said 13 drug kingpins were arrested by the anti narcotics police unit in Mombasa between May and June, this year, and deflected accusations that police were turning a blind eye to the trade.
‘The law enforcement agents will not relent in the war against powerful drug cartels and peddlers to save the young generation from misery and hopelessness brought about by drug indulgence," said the PC.
He said drug abuse was contributing to insecurity, poverty and hunger, and should be the concern of all stakeholders.
According to a survey undertaken by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (NACADA) in Kwale, Mombasa, Kilindini, Malindi and Lamu, eight per cent of coast residents consume traditional liquor, 8.5 per cent packaged alcohol, 7.3 per cent chew miraa, 5.3 per cent smoke bhang,1.9 per cent use heroin, while 25.6 per cent of residents consume alcohol and other drugs.
It adds that 30 per cent of drug users took up the habit as a result of peer pressure, while 28 per cent of them started because of curiosity.
