“Drugs Abuse Heightens Violence”… Director of Crime Services
The Director of Crime Services in the Sierra Leone Police, AIG Morie Lengor, has raised concern over the heightened spate of violence among the youths of this country, a situation which he attributed to the rampant abuse of drugs.
He was speaking at the Miatta Conference Centre on the 26th June, this year during the occasion marking the commemoration of the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on the theme: A Message of Hope “Drug use disorders are preventable and treatable.”
AIG Lengor emphasized that there is so much violence among young people in our society today that almost everybody is appalled by it. “There is violence in the homes, schools, streets and even on play grounds most of which, we now have incontrovertible evidence, are drug and alcohol abuse related,” said the AIG, adding that when these abuses manifest into crimes, they as police officers have no choice but to arrest and charge to court the alleged criminals who inevitably end up behind bars.
The Crime Director disclosed that, recently, they have discovered that young people take alcohol together with sleeping pills such as ephedrine which they easily buy cheap from street hawkers. After taking such mixture of drugs, he furthered, the youths become walking zombies and criminal time bombs risking not only their own safety but also anyone coming in contact with them.
“As a force for good, we have engaged stakeholders to discuss and map out a strategy to protect and prevent our young people from getting involved in or being adversely affected by drug and alcohol abuse…,” he stated.
AIG Lengor said as a matter of fact, the drug abusing youths behind bars should be in treatment facilities as sick people. He, however, wondered how equipped, resourced and skilled are these facilities in our country to adequately and professionally deal with the myriad of drug and alcohol-related disorders.
By: Abdulai M. Kamara
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