African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic ... - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 44 – Uganda Leads in MarijuanaGrowingKampala — Uganda is East Africa's biggest producer ofthe Cannabis plant, commonly known as Marijuana, thehead of the Anti Narcotics Unit at the CriminalInvestigations Department has said.Speaking at a meeting organised by the Ministry ofHealth in Kampala to plan a strategy for controlling drugabuse in Uganda, Mr Michael Were said most productionis for commercial and domestic consumption."Available data shows Uganda is the highest producer ofCannabis in East Africa. Most of the districts in Ugandaare growing this plant mostly for commercial gain," MrWere said.He said during a joint operation meeting on narcoticsheld in Arusha, Tanzania last month, Uganda wasidentified as the leading grower of cannabis in the region.Marijuana is a green, brown or gray mixture of dried,shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant known asCannabis Sativa. It is the most commonly used illicitdrug, considered a soft drug. It is smoked or chewed foreuphoric effect.Smoking or chewing Marijuana is the main cause ofmental disorders which are soaring at an alarmingly highrate in the country.It is for this reason that the Ministry of Health is comingup with a Master Plan on the establishment of a nationalcoordinating body on drug control, provision oftreatment, awareness and prevention, strengthening andformulating new legislation.Latest reports indicate that Cocaine and Heroin, two ofthe world's addictive narcotic drugs are being smuggledinto western markets through Uganda.Dr David Basangwa, a consultant psychiatrist at ButabikaNational Psychiatric hospital said drug abuse in Ugandais on the increase.Dr Basangwa, said before, people used to abusetraditional drugs like marijuana but of late, addicts arealso using heroin and cocaine.He said these drugs are dangerous because theycontribute to health complications, crime and socialdisorder. "We need to move faster and control thembefore they go out of hand," he said.He said 20 per cent of all patients admitted at ButabikaMental and Rehabilitation Hospital are a result of alcoholand drug abuse.http://allafrica.com/stories/200803280319.html☻☻☻☻☻☻Uganda: Marijuana SalesBoom in CityChris KiwawuloNew Vision24 October 2009Kampala — The sale of marijuana in Kampala hasdrastically increased as the demand seems to be on anupward trend.A SURVEY carried out by Sunday Vision found out thatthe trade in marijuana or cannabis is rampant indowntown Kampala and slum areas.In the central business district, marijuana is solddiscreetly. Investigations show that some women foodvendors hide marijuana in the buckets in which they carryfood.Other notorious sellers are hawkers and roadside vendors,especially on the Nakivubo mews. The main merchandisethese vendors deal in is sweets, waragi packed in sachetsand cigarettes.The survey also established that some marijuana sellersremove tobacco from its original cigarette packaging(paper) and replace it with crushed marijuana. They dothis to confuse Police officers who regularly hunt themdown.But the seller can only serve this type of 'cigarette' toknown daily customers and those who use codedlanguage. For instance, one has to say out one of themany names that they give to marijuana such as ladi,sada, omuggo, etc.Some simply pay and say "njagala kwenyokeza" (literarymeaning I want to smoke). Here, the seller cannot make amistake. He/she will stealthily give the buyer a marijuanastick.Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy SpokespersonHenry Kalulu says they have carried out a number ofoperations in places where the marijuana business isbooming and arrested several sellers and smokers. Kalulusays they arrest not less than 50 suspects every month. Hecould not rule out the sale of marijuana by food vendors,saying "the sellers employ a lot of tactics".In August, Kalulu said they arrested 65 suspects inconnection with marijuana smoking and selling, whilethey nabbed 50 in September. Besides arrests, the Policeare engaging in pro-active ways of stopping the sale andconsumption of marijuana through community policing.Kalulu says they continuously carry out sensitisationContinued on page 46-45- Traditional African Clinic December 2009