The National Council wants Namibia to tighten laws on hubbly bubbly and other smoking substances amid growing concerns over their use among school pupils and young people.
The council’s standing committee on health, social welfare and labour affairs is currently conducting regional consultations on a motion, first tabled in 2020, calling for an investigation into hubbly bubbly and other harmful substances.
Speaking to The Namibian from the Omaheke region yesterday, committee chairperson Joseph Sivako said depression, neglect at home and peer pressure emerged as the main reasons driving young people to smoke hubbly bubbly and other substances.
He said many pupils are effectively raising themselves because their parents are absent, while others have little supervision despite living with their families.
“Some of these pupils are child-headed and life is difficult for them. To cope, they turn to hubbly bubbly, choefs [vapes] and even marijuana,” Sivako said.
He said substance abuse has contributed to school dropouts, with some former pupils loitering outside school premises and encouraging pupils to smoke.
According to Sivako, children raised in households where smoking is common are also more likely to adopt the habit.
He further argued that provisions under the Basic Education Act of 2020 have made it difficult for schools to deal with the problem, saying teachers often fear accusations of harassment or misconduct when attempting to search pupils for prohibited substances.
The committee has so far visited nearly 30 schools across the regions and found the situation to be widespread.
“We want to come up with a policy that regulates these substances, which are not manufactured in Namibia. We want a policy that prohibits or bans them from entering the country, which can eventually become an act,” Sivako said.
The committee is expected to conclude consultations next week with relevant government ministries before compiling its final report.
The report will be tabled during the National Council’s mid-August session.
Besides legislative reforms, the committee is also proposing intensified awareness campaigns in schools and communities to educate young people about the dangers of substance abuse.
Sivako warned that failure to act could have serious long-term consequences.
“If we do not control this, very soon we will have more people who are mentally affected and fewer who are healthy.
We must avoid that,” he said.
This week, the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture reviewed school safety policies to strengthen measures against vaping and other prohibited items in schools.
The ministry is also going to determine which items should be formally prohibited on school premises and close existing legal loopholes.
