Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2016
Source: Cape Times (South Africa)
Copyright: 2016 Cape Times
Contact:  http://www.capetimes.co.za/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2938
Author: Barbie Sandler
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n403/a08.html

DRUGS A GLOBAL ISSUE

I NOTE, (Cape Times, June 8) that General Vearey has called for a 
review of South Africa's war on drugs.

There is no doubt these thugs and gangs are a law unto themselves and 
the police are simply not coping.

How many more killings of innocent people, especially children caught 
in the crossfire, can the Government allow to continue?

Helen Zille, a while back, and Patricia de Lille asked for the army 
to be brought into the Manenberg area. We use our army all over 
Africa to help countries on a war footing, but we have a war in our 
own backyard.

Surely a visible presence of army personnel would work wonders? Why 
don't we try this? In fact at my hospital in London in the '60s we 
were giving registered drug users their fix on a nightly basis.

This certainly means clean needles and syringes will be used and 
maybe these kids can then get a bit of help at the same time.

But I think the problem now would be that if clinics were set up in 
these drug-infested areas to give the users their fix, alas we all 
know they would be targeted by the gangs to steal the drugs on the 
premises. So I wonder if that would work here?

Perhaps, also, drug users should be taken to morgues to see someone 
who has died of a drug overdose.

That may go a way towards frightening them out of wanting to stick a 
needle into themselves.

Sadly, it is a worldwide problem.

Barbie Sandler

Claremont
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