Chewing of miraa will be restricted to five hours a day if a new law being drafted by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (NACADA) sails through.
NACADA director Mohamed Fazul has said they are currently drafting a law that will regulate and limit the use of the narcotic in Kenya to between 5pm and 10pm. He however did not specify how such a law would be enforced.
“It is a drug with two active ingredients – cathine and cathinone,” said Fazul, “We are drafting a law to regulate its usage and consumption.”
Reacting to the proposed law, Nyambene Miraa Traders’ Association spokesman Kimanthi Munjuri said its enforcement was possible since it was already controlled in places it originated. Mr Munjuri also commended NACADA's proposal to regulate the use of the drug.
"Chewing miraa should be controlled. Our current problems was brought about by lack of control, where people mostly of Somali origin used to chew miraa for days in the UK and then later complain that it is harming them health-wise," Munjuri said in reference to the miraa ban in Western countries.
"Everybody suffering from all manner of situations and drug abuse hides behind miraa. You find someone taking only one bundle the whole night, during which he adds consumption of other drugs like bhang, and then, because miraa is the one theyare seen chewing or holding, their obviously visible drugged state is blamed on miraa," he said.
Munjuri however said that the restriction time be pegged between 2pm to midnight rather than 5pm and 10pm.
Meanwhile, Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi condemned the use of miraa saying it destroys families especially in the Muslim community, and also ruins livelihoods and the economy. The MP said that merely regulating the use of the drug was not enough and called for its total banning. He also said there was no need to regulate the sale and consumption of a drug that has no benefit to the society.
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya organising secretary Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa echoed Mwinyi’s sentiments that the drug should be banned.
ALSO READ:
Mombasa leaders call for ban of miraa in the county
Miraa traders seek Chinese markets
www.doitadigital.com