Drug abuse is a growing public health crisis in Zimbabwe and it has permeated all facets of life with the youth being the most affected demographic.
The crisis is driven by socio-economic challenges facing the majority in the country and lack of effective law enforcement mechanism. It is rampant across both urban and rural areas.
Young people as young as 10 have been caught up in the crisis with some estimates saying 57% of adolescents and young adults have used drugs.
However, Zimbabwe is yet to wake up to the reality that the problem of drugs and substance abuse is bigger than what we are willing to admit.
There are certain sectors where the problem of substance abuse is being swept under the carpet and this includes sport where many stars have fallen into the trap.
The revelation that one of the country’s cricket legends, Sean Williams, was being forced into premature retirement because he was fighting drug addiction should be a wake-up call for authorities in various disciplines to be proactive in tackling the problem.
Zimbabwe Cricket announced that Williams, a long serving member of the Chevrons and one of its leading lights, had made himself unavailable for national selection after he checked into a rehabilitation programme. He will not be picked for national duty again, Zimbabwe Cricket announced.
It said Williams had pulled out of the T20 side before a World Cup Africa Qualifier in Harare in September and during an internal investigation into the reasons for his withdrawal he “disclosed that he has been struggling with drug addiction and has voluntarily entered rehabilitation.”
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In 2022, former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendon Taylor was banned by the International Cricket Council after he failed a drug test for cocaine use. Taylor was also sanctioned for accepting money from an Indian businessman, who wanted him to fix matches.
Fortunately, the top cricketer is back in the national team fold after he underwent rehabilitation.
Zimbabwe Cricket has also sanctioned some cricketers after they were caught using drugs such as marijuana and the administrators must be congratulated for their proactive approach.
However, there is no evidence that other sports codes are alive to the crisis.
There are stories of footballers, for example, who are drug addicts but there are no mechanisms to assist them to kick out the dangerous habit.
Other sports codes must take a leaf from Zimbabwe Cricket and come up with deliberate processes to deal with the growing problem of drugs and substance abuse by athletes.
