Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) are mostly in institutions of higher learning but have now spread to high schools and even primary schools.
This was revealed by Gladys Chania, the proprietor of Right @ Home Rehabilitation Centre in Thika.
Speaking at her office earlier this week, she said that as a stakeholder in the fight against drug abuse, she has information about high school students who have indulged themselves in hard drugs through injection. Due to this, she has been planning mentorship programmes and has already started in Lari Sub County and soon extending to Thika East region.
Chania said that she is now rehabilitating two high school girls who have been using the drugs. She however said that these girls are not the only ones as there are many more in other areas who are afraid to disclose or their families do not have the resources to rehabilitate them and thus suffer on their own.
She suggested that the way to curb these problems avoiding drugs as they alter the thinking and attitudes.
“We would rather spend money as a country creating awareness about the dangers of drug abuse than using it trying to rehabilitate victims hooked to hard drugs,” Chania said.
She added: “Nacada should involve people like us who are in the field of rehabilitation so that we can help lay strategies on how to contain the drug abuse situation. We all have ideas according to the people we serve.”