France, July 27 -- Zimbabwe is in the grip of a growing crisis as substance abuse rips through communities, with young people in the eye of the storm.

"The current situation is that we have 57 percent of all mental health institutions admissions being attributed to drug use," saysWilson Box, head of the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network- an organisation working in eight of the country's 10 provinces to raise awareness about the dangers of drug abuse.

"In our communities you find that for every four houses, in one house there is drug peddling. Among these we also have new sedative substances in the form of illicit brews that are very potent and nobody really knows the content of these illicit brews."

Box adds that the problem sh...