Story by Courage Bushe

The call to end drug and substance abuse is growing louder each day as witnessed by 18 cyclists who have embarked on a 500 km journey from Bulawayo to Chitungwiza raising awareness on the dangers of the social ill.

The cyclists, who embarked on the initiative dubbed “Cycling against Drug and Substance Abuse” arrived in Gweru this Tuesday. 

One of the riders, Thomas Classen gave an insight into the importance of the initiative.

“We are a group of 18 cyclists, and we have embarked on this 500km journey from Bulawayo to Harare in a bid to raise awareness of the dangers that emanate from drug and substance abuse.  Mainly, the youths are the most affected ones, and we are targeting them also. We intend to arrive in Harare by the end of this week.”

The campaign has attracted the attention of the government which is convinced that it will play a key role in restoring the lost human and community functionality.

“We decided to embark on a campaign to educate youths on the effects of drugs and we are supporting our president’s initiative of taking head on this problem among our youngsters,” said the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Honourable Raj Modi.

Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution said, Honourable Owen Ncube “The midlands province has taken collective efforts to eliminate drug and substance abuse since the launch of this initiative year. We applaud the cycling team for their commitment.”

Global trends on drug and substance abuse indicate that the abuse of drugs and harmful substances results in 3,3 million deaths each year.