Reachout Centre Trust executive director Taib Abdulrahman during the Thursday forum. [Photo/ Maxwell Ngala]
Reachout Centre Trust, an anti-drug abuse lobby group based in the Coast region has challenged the government to amend the drug laws in the country to provide a legal frame work for such NGOs to assist drug users.Reachout executive director Taib Abdulrahman said the NGO has faced various challenges in helping drug users free themselves from the menace, since there was no proper legal frame work to enhance their outreach activities.Speaking in a forum that brought together anti-drug stakeholders and the media fraternity in Mombasa on Thursday, Taib said despite all their efforts, the organization faced several challenges due to the lack of proper legal frameworks and guidelines to assist drug users in the region.Taib said it was wrong for the government to treat drug users as criminal, as the move was punitive to the already suffering addicts.“Drug addicts and drug traffickers cannot be punished in the same manner as the move will never solve the drug menace in the Coast region,” he said.He said drug users need treatment and counselling instead of being locked up in prison.“Why do we arrest, charge and sentence sick people suffering from drug abuse? They need free treatment and counselling from the government,” he added.He said the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic and Substance Act of 1994 was punitive in nature and does not help in quelling the problem.He, however, lauded the methadone treatment programme that was launched in 2015, saying it has had a positive impact on drug users in the Coast region.The programme administers methadone, a liquid detoxification treatment that help the users manage the urge to take drugs.Taib said over 500 male and 100 female drug users are issued with the free drug every day at the Frere Town Methadone clinic in Kisauni.“The treatment last for a maximum of two years but we have drug users who after one year are completely healed and no longer depend on the drug,” he said.Patients have been receiving treatment at the clinic following the closure of the Coast General Government Center last year.