{"id":54604,"date":"2023-08-22T22:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T22:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open"},"modified":"2023-08-22T23:19:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T23:19:16","slug":"soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open","title":{"rendered":"Soroti street kids sell, smoke marijuana in the open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Although marijuana remains outlawed in the country, the Soroti street kids who operate around the GBX Cinema complex have defied the rules by selling and smoking the drug in the open.<\/p>\n

Of every 10 street children gathered around this famous place, five of them are either smoking marijuana or rolling it into small paper pipes for sale. They claim it’s from the sales of marijuana that they get what to eat.<\/p>\n

Denis Okwii, one of the street kids operating around this complex told this reporter that each \u2018stick\u2019 of rolled marijuana sells at Shs1000.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the years I have been on the streets, marijuana has been like my mother and father. It\u2019s after the day’s sale that I find what to eat, and when the night cold falls, we smoke it to keep warm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Okwii said their supply comes from Karamoja and is distributed among the preferred street kids, who have to remit the money back after selling.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers range from casual labourers, hawkers, taxi operators, boda boda riders and others,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Juma Musoke, a primary six dropout, said they have managed to thrive in this business for a long time because they are not hostile to city authorities, though they are sometimes framed as thieves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the stock is sold, we have to remit the money to our suppliers in Karamoja, those who fail to do so will be out of business. On a bad day I can collect only Shs20,000,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The East Kyoga Police Spokesperson, SP Oscar Ageca, said the issue of the street kids selling marijuana in Soroti town is a multi-layered one, adding that there is a big gap in the law when it comes to matters of distribution, possession and those cultivating it, which needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn situations where these people are arrested and arraigned in courts, they are released because of the gaps in the law. And the child remand facility in Mbale is constrained and overcrowded and we can\u2019t take them to prisons because they are under-aged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ms Grace Tino, a resident in the central ward, says there is laxity among those meant to implement the law, \u201cso those children of ours (street kids) have the leverage to sell their drugs at will.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Although marijuana remains outlawed in the country, the Soroti street kids who operate around the GBX Cinema complex have defied the rules by selling and smoking the drug in the open. Of every 10 street children gathered around this famous place, five of them are either smoking marijuana or rolling it into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":54602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-54604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nSoroti street kids sell, smoke marijuana in the open - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although marijuana remains outlawed in the country, the Soroti street kids who operate around the GBX Cinema complex hav ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soroti street kids sell, smoke marijuana in the open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although marijuana remains outlawed in the country, the Soroti street kids who operate around the GBX Cinema complex hav ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T22:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T23:19:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/08\/sm_1692730066.78489.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Soroti street kids sell, smoke marijuana in the open\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-22T22:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-22T23:19:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\"},\"wordCount\":404,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/08\/sm_1692730066.78489.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/soroti-street-kids-sell-smoke-marijuana-in-the-open\",\"name\":\"Soroti street kids sell, smoke marijuana in the open - 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