Local consumption of crack cocaine, or ‘Pedra’ as it is called in Guinea Bissau,hasincreased in recent years since the country became a major transhipment point for cocaine heading to Europe from South America, and the drug is highly addictive.
Some 30 kilometres outside the capital, Bissau, is the only place in the country where drug addicts can find help. But Desafio Jovem, a centre for mental illness near the town Quinhámel has few resources other than a couple of roughly constructed buildings on a plot of land by a mangrove swamp, and an evangelical pastor who says all he can provide is discipline and spiritual guidance.
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 See IRIN Photo Essay: Desafio Jovem centre for drug rehabilitation |
| More on local drug consumption |
 ArticleCocaine to Europe produces addicts locally |
 Hear Our Voices“I can get you all the cocaine you need,” drug intermediary [anonymous] |
 Hear Our Voices“It is a difficult thing to stop smoking pedra…” Bubacar Gano |
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
