Lamu elders have proposed compulsory lessons against drugs in madrassa and Sunday schools to end the addiction.
The elders as well as women and youth leaders are concerned by rise of drug use among youths.
They spoke on Tuesday as they made New Year resolutions for the county at the Mwana Arafa Hotel Conference Hall.
Drug addiction has contributed to high crime rate in the area.
Lamu Youth leader Feiswal Miji said the fact that young children had limited knowledge on drugs had given peddlers an easy time to entrap them into the menace.
“Lamu still has a long way to go in the war on drugs. We need to go an extra mile and that’s why we are proposing that madrassas and Sunday school classes take up this initiative,” Miji said.
He said this will help curb the vice.
A recent police report listed Faza, Kizingitini, Mbwajumwali, Tchundwa, Pate and Myabogi villages in Lamu East as the worst affected by drugs in the county.
The most abused drugs are heroin and marijuana.
Elder Mohamed Mbwana said incorporating drug lessons in their teachings will provide the foundation for drug-free generations but added that the initiative called for concerted efforts and a genuine desire for change.
“It’s at that particular age that children are learning life skills backed by heavy religious foundations and we believe it’s the perfect stage to teach them about drugs such that they understand the repercussions of such a lifestyle early,” Mbwana said.
Maendeleo ya Wanawake Lamu chapter chairperson Fatma Salim lamented that many children grew up surrounded by alcoholics and drug users who could be their parents, guardians or older siblings.
She said such children needed a stable foundation and a clear understanding of what drugs are and their expected outcomes if used.
“We need to have measures that protect children who are exposed to drugs right from an early age in their own homes and surroundings.They deserve to know how to stay sober and safe,” Salim said.
Lamu County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri last month announced that the county administration will start producing short films featuring all notorious drug peddlers and smugglers in the region as a way of exposing and shaming them.
He said the films will capture the true faces of those frustrating the war on drugs in Lamu on CDs which will then be circulated to the public cost-free.
The films will incorporate among other things, the real names of the drug barons, their faces, their known areas of business and dates when they were arrested by the police.