15 year old Tanatswa Chabvuta (not her real name), a high school pupil smoked Mbanje for the first time with friends at her family house.
Five minutes later she passed out on the lawn in front of the house.
Her friends who were not first timers and had lured her to smoke fled leaving her lying there alone.
Fortunately poor Tanatswa despite being high managed to crawl to her bedroom before her mother arrived from China chamadzimai.
She woke up bleary and groggy with a terrible head ache at 1747 hours and thought she was late for school the next morning.
Despite her confused state of mind she quickly, took a shower and dressed up for school.
Her mother was shocked when she learned that her daughter had erroneously perceived the end of a day to the beginning of the next day and was preparing food to take to school.
Tanatswa had smoked Mbanje and it took a tore on her psychological and physiological set up.
prepared mbanje
Drugs have a propensity to destroy lives once you test them and are difficult to let go.
Number one drug of concern in Zimbabwe is Mbanje and a fight against it ought to be wedged because many youths and some elderly persons are wasting away..
Cannabis Sativa (L) is the scientific name for Mbanje, a name coined by Carl Von Lynne a Swiss Botanist Professor.in the 18th century.
Several street names have been coined for the plant and include bhang, charas, pot, dope, ganja, hemp, weed, blow, grass, charlice, camba and many others.
The major active principle in all cannabis products is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) also known internationally as Dronabinol.
Tetrahydrocannabinol THC or Dronabinol is the substance that gives the so called pleasant euphoria or that literary makes smokers high.
Mbanje has no therapeutic purpose whatsoever as some would like to claim and that is why it is internationally controlled (it is banned) (its use is unlawful).
Tetrahydrocannabinolate acid (THCA) found in Mbanjeis converted to Dronabinol when burnt during smoking to boost the dronabinol already active in the plant.
The potency of THC or dronabinol is enhanced by burning that is why it is mostly smoked.
Cannabis is almost always smoked, often mixed with tobacco, but all consumption of herbal cannabis and resin is of illicit material and is internationally controlled.
With the required equipment law enforcing officials can easily detect where Mbanje is smoked, Dronabinol can be detected in blood within seconds of inhalation and it has a half-life of 2 hours.
Following smoking of the equivalent of 10–15 milligrams over a period of 5–7 minutes, peak plasma levels of dronabinol or THC can certainly be detected.
Since Mbanje is lipophilic it is therefore widely distributed in the body and can be traced in the blood.
Most end products of Mbanje appear in the urine and faeces as glucuronide conjugates.
Can be positively identified by low-power microscopy, where the appearance of glandular trichomes and cystolithic hairs is diagnostic.
The Duquenois test and gas chromatography are two of the tests mostly used to detect Mbanje in suspected cases of drug abuse.
Some metabolites can be detected in the urine for up to 2 weeks following smoking or ingestion.
Mbanje is associated with schizophrenia and psychosis and most mentally related illnesses in Zimbabwe and worldwide are linked to abuse of drugs such as Mbanje.
The head Mental Health Services and Substances Abuse (Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Control), in Zimbabwe Mrs Dorcas Sithole said that drug abuse has grave effects since it does not only impact negatively on individuals but the whole community.
“Drug abuse affects not only individuals, their families, workmates, friends, businesses, government resources but the society as a whole”
“Marriages and families crumble as a result of parents abusing drugs and leads to them failing to provide the essential necessities to the family” she said.
Mrs Sithole added that their Children drop out of school and start abusing drugs as well, fail to get employed when the time comes and will consequently become violent criminals in order to get money to buy more drugs.
“If the cycle is maintained no one will work to contribute to the country’s economic growth” she said.
Apart from sending you to jail drug abuse bring a myriad of injurious penalties which include ill health and ultimately death.
Depending on the method of administration of a drug, drug abuse results in contraction of needle borne ailments like hepatitis or HIV/AIDS.
Children of drug abusers are mistreated or neglected as a result of their parent’s preoccupation with drugs.
They are physically or emotionally abused and often lack proper care, and necessities such as food, water, and shelter.
Internationally governments use resources to train their potential workforce which may not contribute to its economic growth as a result of ill health or death due to drug abuse.
Most drug abusers fail to attain a full-time employment, and those who work put others at risk, particularly when employed in positions where even a minor degree of impairment could be catastrophic.
Imagine what happens if a pilot or a passenger service vehicle drivers such as combi, taxi or bus drivers reports for work under the influence of a drug.
Drug abuse disrupts economic growth of governments after its resources and the tax payer’s money is used up in order to avail medication to treat and rehabilitate drug abusers.
Premature mortality, illness, injury leading to incapacitation, and imprisonment all serve to directly reduce economic productivity.
Some abuse drugs to enhance their sporting activities but not only is it cheating and unlawful it results in addiction and dependence where drug abuse becomes a necessity for maintaining psychological and emotional equilibrium..
One United States of America athlete Marian Jones was stripped off her accolades after it was discovered that she used drugs to enhance her athletic activities.
Illegal drugs are perceived as sexual stimulants and aphrodisiacs, however the impact is often contrary to the desired one.
Mbanje distorts the sense of time, and an illusion of prolonged arousal and orgasm is experienced by the user, unfortunately long term use may result in man having low sperm count and low testosterone levels and women can have abnormal ovulation.
Some drugs impede erections in man and orgasms for both genders, and can cause erectile dysfunction in males leading to breaking up of marriages.
Under the influence of this drug, you will not remember to have safe sex and you would end up having unprotected sex with one or multiple sexual partners.
It can lead to unwanted pregnancy or contracting of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and HIV/ AIDS.
Drugs damage internal essential organs which define life such as brain, liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, throat and stomach.
People often use drugs as a way to overcome their depression, but in reality, the drug use can often worsen the situation.
Drugs contain chemicals that sneak into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information.
They either imitate the brain’s natural chemical messengers or over stimulate the “reward circuit” of the brain.
Some drugs like Mbanje have a similar structure to brain’s chemical messengers and this similarity allows the drugs to “fool” the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages.
Worldwide police and other law enforcing agents have been for centuries busting crime syndicates that deal with drugs but the fight is not theirs alone.
Unless all stakeholders get involved in this battle it will not be won.
Mbanje/Cannabis and cannabis resin are listed in Schedules I and IV of the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
THC or Dronabinol is listed in Schedule I of the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances as controlled substance..
Section 155 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 09:23, says a dangerous drug means any coca bush, coca leaf, raw opium or cannabis plant, prepared opium, prepared cannabis or cannabis resin.
Section 157 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 09:23, states that it is unlawful to possess, use, ingest, acquire, smoke, deal in, consume, cultivate, manufacture dangerous drugs shall be guilty of an offence.
In some countries possessing Mbanje is a serious crime and attracts life imprisonment or a death sentence.
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