By Talent Gondo| A local non governmental organisation, the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) has appealed to the incoming ninth parliament to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act as a way of preventing the criminalization of addicts and congesting the country’s jails.

In an interview with a local daily, ZCLDN founder and director Wilson Box proposed that instead of being sent to jail, addicts must be taken to medical institutions for rehabilitation.

Said Box:

“We propose that a drug addict must be referred to a medical institution, but if they are repeat offenders, they must be taken for rehabilitation, because if they are just thrown in jail for having a stub of marijuana, you find that it will be difficult to contain diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis B in prisons that are already overcrowded.

Currently, the Dangerous Drug Act and the Criminal Code have provisions that criminalise drug addicts, but we are saying they must be referred to health institutions so that they enjoy their rights to health.”-Newsday