UGANDA MARTYRS UNIVERSITY

NAME: EKOTOI NICHOLAS FRANCO

FACULTY: HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND COUNSELLING

COURSE UNIT: SOCIAL POLICY AND PLANNING

LECTURER: Ms. NAKAZIBWE FAUSTINE

REGISTRATION NUMBER: 2011-B091-20051

YEAR THREE, 2ND SEMESTER 2014/ 2015

COURSEWORK:

Discuss any contemporary social problems that you know in Uganda and highlight specific policy issues in the related policy.

According to Kendall, D. (2007) a social problem is a social condition (such as poverty) or a pattern of behavior (such as drug abuse) that harms some individuals or all people in a society and that a sufficient number of people believe warrants public concern and collective action to bring about action.

According to Crone, J. (2007) a social problem exists when people subjectively perceive and have empirical evidence to show that social conditions combined at a local, societal, or global level to cause personal problems. It is therefore an undesirable condition that people believe should be corrected.

A social policy therefore refers to guidelines or intervention for changing, maintenance and creation of conditions of living conducive for human welfare. It is also an instrument applied by governments to regulate and supplement market institutions and social structures. Social policy is often defined as social services such as education, health, employment, and social security.
According to the World Drug Report 2014, in 2012, Uganda has been identified by European countries as an origin for drug traffickers. Uganda is therefore in the international spotlight over drug trafficking. For example, Two Ugandans, Omar Ddamulira and Andrew Ham Ngobi had in May and June 2014 been executed in Guandong Province, China after being convicted of drug trafficking offences. The two men and 21 other Ugandans had been convicted of drug trafficking related offences and sentenced to death in China.
According to the report, drug use continues to exact a significant toll, with valuable human lives and productive years of many persons being lost. An estimated 183,000 drug-related deaths were reported in 2012. Drugs that are trafficked through Uganda include heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ephedrine which are synthetic. On June 30, 2014, Uganda Police Anti-Narcotics squad destroyed 159.68kgs of assorted drugs that included 91kgs of cocaine, 9kgs of heroin, 41kgs of methamphetamines and 16kgs of ephedrine with an estimated street value of Shs101 billion. The drugs had been confiscated from drug traffickers over a two-year period. The destruction of the drugs was on addition to taking to court 53 drug traffickers the police had arrested in the course of its battle over drugs in the last two years.
A just released UN report says cannabis (opium) is widely consumed in Uganda, mainly by street and school youth, as well as by policemen, soldiers and night guards. It is estimated that 55% cent of sedatives users, 30% of synthetic narcotic analgesic users, and 20% of opiate users are women. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dr Steven Kagoda, says most culprits involved with drugs are mainly youth although users can be between 10 and 60 years of age.
Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) Fred Enanga, says Uganda has become a big conduit for drug traffickers because the current law is weak. He adds that the current law sentences a drug trafficker to one year or a fine of Shs One million or both and these are very light punishments to drug traffickers, who see it as very easy to serve one year in jail or pay a fine of Shs one million and go scot free.
Legislators in the past have also been investigated by police on drugs. For example, In 2012 former Bubulo West MP Tony Kipoi was remanded at Luzira Maximum Security Prison over, among other offences, trafficking in narcotics. In the same year, then Butaleja MP Cerinah Nebanda passed on mysteriously and investigations centred on recreational drugs.
Although most Ugandans know that mirah (khart), Shisha, and Kuba are dangerous drugs, the law is silent on them and the authorities cannot prosecute people for consuming them. An Anti-narcotics Bill was drafted in 2005 but, nine years later, it was still gathering dust in a parliament committee. It was tabled in 2007, not until November 20, 2014 when parliament passed the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, also known as the Narcotics law. This law has not yet been implemented and security sources in 2014 were reported to have suspected that the known drug cells leaders could have been behind the delay of the Anti-Narcotics Bill.
According to Harrison (2008), Drug abuse is the over indulgence in and dependence on drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical and mental health, or the welfare of others. Drug abuse is therefore one social problem that has been observed as very common in most urban centres of Uganda and needs to be addressed.
Discussed below are the specific policy issues in the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill that was passed on November 20th, 2014;
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, also known as the Narcotics Law was passed by Uganda’s parliament on November 20, 2014. This piece of legislation purports to deter drug abuse, a social problem, by imposing inhumanely long prison sentences. And a conviction for simple possession can land a person in a cell for 25 years.
The Narcotics Law is one disturbing law that has been passed lately, because it defies public health principles and shows blatant disregard for dignity and human rights. These Law amounts to a full-fledged assault on public health and, if implemented, will result in rampant misuse of imprisonment.
The Narcotics Law is also directly targeted at individuals who are already marginalized by society and most in need of health services and support; people struggling to manage drug dependence and other illnesses. Perhaps most harmful of all, parts of Ugandan society are interpreting these laws to justify violence and exclusion.
The Narcotics Law is a legislative blow to public health, the Narcotics Law penalizes possession of illicit drugs with 10 to 25 years in prison. Trafficking which encompasses everything from small sales to international export, is punishable with a life sentence. Even those who never come across an illicit substance can find themselves ensnared.
The Narcotics Law also goes so far as to levy a five-year prison sentence for failure to disclose prior prescriptions for narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (including those held for pets and farm animals) when receiving a new prescription. Punitive laws like this push people away from health and social services that are vital to managing drug dependence, and supporting people to live full and productive lives.
The Narcotics Law also having criminalized drug use will push people into the shadows. Without an open environment, people won’t be free to share information and talk about addiction. People will be afraid to talk and afraid to seek much-needed medical help because the government has now definitively positioned drug use as a justice issue, rather than a health issue that needs to be addressed medically by health professionals instead of taking it to the courts of law.
The Narcotics Law Indeed does affect the fundamental human rights of the affected persons to access health care. Instead, the legislation proposes imprisonment of drug abusers yet such people should be given the best health care and counseling services to help them out of their helpless addictions to drugs. These narcotics law is therefore legalized hatred that should immediately be re-discussed in parliament, since some sections are extremely inhumane to people with souls.
The Narcotics Law also suggests punishment has a remedy to curb the drug abuse social problem. In my opinion, punishment isn't an effective way to change behavior, and this is a documented fact. The legislators tabling such legislations are most likely to be shamed and isolated from the community of civilized nations, and may even result to imposition of sanctions on Uganda as a country.
In conlusion, drug abuse is a social problem that needs to be jointly addressed by several parties from state actors to non-state actors to Non-Governmental Organizations. Besides, National data which is lacking should be provided, a national survey to can be carried out to establish the magnitude of the problem. With national data available, coordination of efforts within Government and Civil society will be strengthened and supported. Thereby steering awareness and other preventive activities involving NGOS and communities.

REFERENCES
Crone, J. (2007) How can we solve our social problems. Thousand oaks, CA: Pine Forge press.

John, M. (2012) 200 Million People around the World abuse drugs. The Los Angeles Times News paper of January. 5. 2012.

Kasirye, R. (2010) Drug abuse in East Africa region.

Kendall, D. (2007) Social problems in a diverse society. 4th Edition. Boston: Pearson.

Michael, D., L. (2013) Drugs in society: causes, concepts and control. Social science. Newnes publishers.

Naomi, B.,S. (2014) Four Laws That Are Devastating Public Health in Uganda. The Open Society Foundations, December. 15. 2014.
Patrick, K. (2014) How big is Uganda’s drugs problem?. The Independent Newspaper of July. 20. 2014.
United Nations office of drug and crime report, 2012, 2014. Drug trafficking: United Nations Drug control.

Uganda Police Report, 2012. The Annual crime report: Murders Human Trafficking, drug abuse on the rise in Uganda. Kampala. Uganda Police.