More PNG women now drinking homebrew, smoking drugs

 MARIJUANA use and homebrew drinking by females are on the rise in Chimbu’s Kerowagi district, Highlands Women in Politics president Dere Cecilia Kimagl says. 

Kimagl said many people were turning to drugs and homebrew because police were slack.

“From what I see, people are no longer afraid of the law like in the past,” she said.

Kimagl, who is from Kerowagi, said people producing homebrew sold the pretty strong substance beside the road and the local market like any other produce from the garden.

“Since New Year, I see many young girls and single mothers taking the illegal substance because they’ve seen the law-enforcing agent has done nothing to arrest people taking illegal substances,” she said.

Kimagl said that was leading to many unwanted pregnancies, the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS and violence in the family.

ONE PNG / The National