Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jul 2008
Source: Daily Nation (Kenya)
Copyright: 2008 Nation Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/868

REPORT ON DRUGS ALARMING

Parliament must move with haste to enact the pending Anti-Narcotics 
Bill to save Kenya's youths from being ensnared by drug barons.

Reports that Kenya is increasingly becoming a popular transit route 
for drugs is quite alarming. But this is not news. The country became 
popular with these merchants of death two decades ago due to its lax 
anti-narcotics laws.

What is most distressing is the revelation that drug abuse in Kenya 
has increased by one percentage point in the last one year.  But even 
more alarming is that a greater number of Kenyans, especially women, 
are being used as mules by West African drug lords. This could mean a 
few things.

One, Kenyans are becoming more daring given the harsh punishment 
often meted out on those found with drugs. Secondly, drug operators 
are becoming too sophisticated for our anti-narcotics agents, or 
three, the agents are being compromised.

These are issues that Kenyans must explore with all seriousness if 
the country is to safeguard the future of  its youth.

Besides the rise in hard drug use in Kenya, an increasing number of 
Kenyans are languishing in foreign jails, having been caught with drugs.

Kenyan authorities should take seriously the recent disclosure by the 
UN Office on Drugs and Crime that there has been a major shift in 
cocaine smuggling routes due to increased demand in Europe.

At the same time, the report says, Europe is adopting more stringent 
policing measures, forcing the drug smugglers to shift base to West 
Africa. What is our Government doing?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom