At the height of his addiction to BronCleer, Kuzivakwashe Mhlanqa drank four bottles of the cough syrup a day, and even stole money from his mum to feed his habit. Eventually, the 19-year-old moved out of the family home in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, and started living on the streets
Among other ingredients, BronCleer contains codeine and alcohol. In small doses, the cough syrup provides pain relief, works as a mild sedative and is relatively harmless. But continuous abuse will lead to permanent organ damage and can result in death. The drug is sold on every street corner, in bars, schoolyards and on buses for as little as $3 (£2.40) a bottle.
The most known reason for taking this drug is because the population is unemployed, can't find any job to work and they want to do something in their free time. For them this is the best choice, they're getting something different feel, feeling good and forgeting about their problems for half of their day. Consistently taking this drug they're getting addicted so easily. Consuming the drug often, the substances are "destroying" their teeth and eventually they'll be broken.
Four years ago, Zimbabwe passed a ban on BronCleer, but the cough syrup is still smuggled into the country in large quantities from neighbouring South Africa. And because it's a cheap and easily attainable high, it has come to represent an irresistible escape for many people in the country who struggle to see a future for themselves.
Today, Kuzivakwashe Mhlanqa is clean. He's currently working on producing his own music – a job he says helps him manage his addiction as he tries to be a positive role model to his four younger siblings. He wants to "heal" the other people, which most of them are kids to get out from the addiction.
It's caused because the government do not take any steps to develop the Zimbabwe, especially the drug addiction problem like this. They're continuing to use this drug up to date. 50 % of the population are using drugs, most of it is BronCleer.
But millions of people in Zimbabwe are still fighting off the addiction and, unfortunately, their government is largely ignoring the issue. The official strategy on drug abuse is one that relies on incarceration and forceful medication of addicts until the physical withdrawal symptoms subside.
Since the making of this documentary, the Zimbabwean government has announced plans to open new rehabilitation clinics around the country. But so far, politicians have yet to find a viable solution for the problem of millions of young people dependant on BronCleer.
For the government the only way to stop using drugs is to arrest the people which take drugs(put them in jail). For most of the people this isn't the way to stop using this drug. Their opinion is to be built rehabilitaiton clinics around the country, it would be more effective than put them on jail. Unfortunately the goverenment still do not take any actions about that and the population slowly going down because of the Zimbabwe drug.