Ban waragi sachets

Apr 17, 2009

For years now, social workers involved with young people have been calling for a ban on liquor packed in sachets. They argue that a sachet of liquor is the most convenient companion for a self-destructive young person because sachets are handy and very ch

For years now, social workers involved with young people have been calling for a ban on liquor packed in sachets. They argue that a sachet of liquor is the most convenient companion for a self-destructive young person because sachets are handy and very cheap.

Teachers testify that school children hide the sachets of alcohol between exercise book pages and drink in class! Students testify that their colleagues carry concealed sachets of alcohol and stealthily distribute them to others.

Stakeholders agree that the packing of alcohol in sachets is one of the biggest single driver of alcohol abuse among young people. Even the manufacturers know it. To add insult to injury, the quality of many of the liquor brands being distributed in sachets is suspect.

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards is having trouble monitoring and regulating these distillers. In addition to encouraging young people’s abuse of alcohol, sachets are an environmental hazard because they are not bio-degradable yet are produced in large numbers since each one carries just a little alcohol. Collecting them for recycling is impractical considering the circumstrances under which they are used.

Neighbouring countries like Kenya and some municipalities in eastern Congo and South Sudan have banned liquor sachets.

The Government of Uganda should ban the importation, production and distribution liquor sachets.

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