The principal of the Haywood Mission Institution (HMI), Bishop Dr. Leo Simpson says the issue of drugs addiction needs a proper and urgent attention.
According to him, if nothing is done expeditiously to curb this menace, it will undoubtedly continue to create serious social, security, psychological and health risk to society.
He made the statement during an interview held at his office concerning the state of affairs of the Samuel Grimes Initiative for At Risk Youth based in Kakata, Margibi County that was launched under his watch last year November.
The initiative was established to bring hope and change, providing therapeutic treatments as well as psycho-social counselling to thousands of youths who have been alienated and labelled as “Zogos”-the rejected and disenfranchised.
Previously, the gov’t launched a US$13M initiative called National Fund Drive for the Rehabilitation and Empowerment of At-Risk-Youth (Zogos), although little have been heard or seen regarding the implementation of this magnificent program.
“I hope the government will get serious; this gov’t or the next that will come after it. If they don’t take the drug issue seriously or deal with urgently, we will be prisoners in our own home,” Bishop Simpson warned.
He wondered how Liberia has become a transit point for drugs in the West African region with uncontrollable influx while the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) sits and watch.
“The question is why do we have drugs coming in; who are the beneficiaries and who are the people that are behind the drug-trafficking in the country? There has to be some people who are well placed in society that are surreptitiously or directly in a cartel making millions of dollars from the drug scenario,” he lamented.
“We have to get to the root. How is that drugs is flooding the country? Why can’t the LDEA stop the influx of drugs or its distribution into ghettos? Why is it that when people identified with such harmful substances are arrested don’t serve the stipulated term? he noted.
“These are extremely serious questions that need to be answered; because until we can get to the root cause of who are those benefiting from drug money and rendering our young people useless or wayward; we are fighting a losing battle,” Simpson said with frustration.
The Liberian educator and Spiritual Father recommended that the government’s law enforcement arm takes cogent action by raiding ghettos nationwide minimized; if not, eradicate drugs from the country.
He strongly believes that the law enforcement officers know the location of every single ghetto in the country therefore, it only makes sense or is prudent enough to put such terrible people out of business by cutting their supply line.
According to him, drugs have infiltrated the nation so much that it is easily accessible to students including those of his own school the Haywood Mission, which has confiscated some narcotic substances from young people coming to the school.
Meanwhile, Dr. Adam M. Kyne, Consultant and Executive “Director of Samuel Grimes Initiative for At Risk Youth” said the program currently has over 40 drug addicts (substance users) with at least 35 individuals who are undergoing intensive psycho-social education and testing.
He added that the initiative will give them the second chance to live, learn, be cared for and productive and be useful members of society as well as law abiding citizens.
According to Kyne, just three months after its launch, the initiative has tested at least five individuals who are drug-free and hope to build on the success.
He then pleaded to the government to partner with the Samuel Grimes to expand their capacity and incorporate more at risk youths for a peaceful society.
“What Haywood has done uniquely is not to expel students who take in drugs but rather train people who become psycho educators who are able to observe the signs and symptoms of drug addicts especially within academic institutions. When such people are discovered, Haywood has a space where they can talk to psycho educators so that they get coping-skill intervention,” he explained.
Kyne stressed that to every drug addiction, there is always a trigger that is most likely linked to family issues, peer pressure, environmental or financial issues, so the institution has done tremendously well to put together crisis specialists to check for the trigger and also have regular discussions with students on campus to explain the negative impacts of drug addiction.
He called on the Ministry of Education to emulate the fine example of Haywood to introduce crisis intervention in every school in the republic as a means of carrying out awareness against drugs.
Dr. Kyne emphasized the importance of collective and simultaneous effort by all academic institutions as the only real solution to eliminating or alleviating detrimental effect of drug.
