Staff Writer
THE Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network will be training journalists from across the country’s eight provinces on responsible reporting of drug-related issues, empowering them to tackle the challenges with informed coverage.
Speaking ahead of the training which will be held in Harare on June 12-13, ZCLDN director Wilson Box said as the organisation is advocating for the decriminalisation of drugs use in Zimbabwe, it is essential to educate the media with the terminology to ensure accurate and efficient reporting.
ZCLDN “The need to empower our local journalists with novel ideas on the current world trends on dealing with drug use challenges motivated ZCLDN to train the journalists.
“The current policy push in Zimbabwe on dealing with people who use and inject drugs is criminalisation. However, criminalisation has failed world wide.
“Punitive laws have been applied but this has not curtailed drug use. We are seeing the proliferation of new psychoactive substances, corruption and violence all fueled by punitive laws. So this training will enable journalists to have balanced reporting which is evidence based,” Box said.
“The goal of decriminalization is making drug use a public health concern. There is need for people who use and inject drugs to access treatment services, rehabilitation and harm reduction interventions.
“This will impact Zimbabwean society through fighting stigma and discrimination and managing illicit drug use in Zimbabwe.
Box stressed on the importance of collective action, urging individuals and communities to come together to combat the drug use scourge.
“The challenges of drug use are a community problem to which all should be involved by being humane to people who use and inject drugs. “ZCLDN intends to empower youths, law enforcement, health personnel and more scribes in the future,” he said.
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