Parents have been urged to strongly come out and guard their children against drug abuse because the drugs have negative impacts on their lives.
This is after realizing that a bigger percentage of the people in the country constitutes of youth who have immensely turned into drug abuse that is ruining their lives.
Speaking to West Fm human rights activists Tiger Wanyanja director Mwatikho Torture Survivors Organization and Job Bwonya director Western Kenya human rights watch said parents have greatly failed in their roles of advising and guarding their children against abusing drugs.
“Drug abuse have really affected the productivity of the youth who indulge in the vice thus weakening the Kenyan economy.” He noted adding that most of these youths either use cheap liquor or those from rich families indulge in cocaine, heroin and miraa.
The human rights activists say excessive use of the drugs has led to health problems, miscarriages, infertility, and cancer amongst other diseases in the users.
They say most of the schools whose students indulge in drugs have recorded poor results thus affecting the education sector.
Bwonya and Wanyanja revealed that according to study, the health problems that come with drug use are wanting and if youths are not carefully guided they are at risk.
“Some of the health problems caused by alcohol consumption include infertility and miscarriages where a man’s performance is affected and causes temporal erectile dysfunction in the long term reducing testosterone levels leading to loss of libido and toxic to the testes which harms the sperms while being produced or bars them from reaching the egg.” Bwonya said.
“When a youth excessively consumes alcohol the testicles shrinks leading to impotence growth of breasts and thinning in body hair.” Wanyanja added.
They said that in women, they are made less fertile, there occurs imbalance in hormones that control reproduction and sometimes the menstrual periods affected thus reducing chances of conceiving.
They urged that heavy drinkers get more of chest infections and pneumonia as they are poorly nourished saying a study indicates that men who drink more than 50 times a week are likely to be taken to hospital with the disease than those who indulged in the drink six times a week.
They say too that regular drinking has been catalyzed by depression anxiety and other mental health problems noting that almost a third of suicidal cases of youths are alcohol related.
The human rights activists now want parents to take responsibility educate their children offer counseling services and guard them against drugs that might lead them into criminal indulgences.
Scientists say usage of different drugs has led to disorganized thinking in youths too and most of them ending up in criminal activities that see them locked up in cells.
The activists said when youths are left to idle around and gang up in peer group pressures chances of largely indulging in criminal activities are high.
They noted it’s high time youths who form the largest population of the country be guarded and protected from the social vices that affect them.
In so doing they say we will have a productive Kenya with good economy