Booze by-law backdown

New year revellers can drink until the early morning hours on Saturday if they choose – the City of Cape Town has done a last minute U-turn on its controversial new liquor laws.

Yesterday Councillor Taki Amira, chairman of the Liquor Policy Task Team, announced that the new laws – outlawing alcohol sales after 11pm in residential areas and 2am in business areas – would not be implemented at New Year.

The announcement followed a meeting between Amira and city club and bar owners who said the laws would impact heavily on their businesses.

At the meeting, UCT student Rowan Dunne pointed out that the laws under which the council wanted to promulgate the new measures were not yet gazetted and would only be gazetted on January 14. Dunne, 28, is a Master’s student in social development, policy and management, and works part time in entertainment.

Amira announced the new measures on Tuesday, saying at a press conference that the new liquor by-law that regulated alcohol trading hours would take effect at midnight today “The city wants to remind liquor traders that the new trading hours kick in at the beginning of the new year,” Amira said on Tuesday.

He said this meant that bars and clubs in business areas would have to close by 2am tomorrow and that those close to residential areas, which may now enjoy late trading hours, would have to abide by the new legislation and close by 11pm, or risk losing their licences.

The news was met with disappointment by some businesses which were promoting big New Year’s Eve bashes.

But most traders contacted by the Cape Times accepted the new trading hours and pledged to comply with the regulations.

After the announcement, a host of objections flooded into the city council, with mayor Dan Plato having several emergency sessions with angry restaurant and club owners whose unhappiness led to their meeting yesterday withAmira.

After the meeting the city said: “The City would like to allay fears of club and restaurant owners with regards to the enforcement of the City’s new Liquor Trading Days and Hours By-Law. The by-law will be phased in over the next few months and will not be stringently enforced until all role players have been extensively educated and informed about the new legislation.”

Amira said the aim was not to close down clubs, bars and restaurants which did not comply by today, but to properly inform everyone affected by the new by-law in order for them to comply with the legislation.

Amira said the new measures would be brought in but not implemented. “As with all new legislation, it has been decided that this new by-law will be phased in over a period of time. During the first few months of 2011 we will educate and inform everyone affected by the by-law about its contents and what is expected of them.

We will not enforce the by-law, fine nor prosecute people until all role players have been properly educated and everyone has been given a fair chance to make sure they comply with the law.”

Restaurant and club owners used yesterday’s meeting to raise concerns.

Amira said the city had amended the original by-law and that the amended version would be officially approved on January 14.

Under the new by-law, establishments with a trading licence for non-alcoholic goods can stay open after the specified hours as long as they cease serving alcohol. But the law prohibits the sale and consumption of alcohol on the premises after hours.

Special events in need of a temporary licence will have to apply individually.

For a full schedule visit www.capetown.gov.za.

- Cape Times

Cape bars, clubs get grace period

Independent Newspapers

Cape Town clubs and bars are to be given several months grace to become "educated" on their reduced trading hours, the City said. Photo: Independent Newspapers

Cape Town clubs and bars are to be given several months grace to become “educated” on their reduced trading hours, the City said on Thursday.

In yet another confusing instalment in its crackdown on liquor sales, it said both that its new by-law would not be enforced at all until a later stage, and that it would not be “stringently” enforced until later.

The by-law, which limits the trading hours of inner-city bars and clubs to 2am, comes into effect at midnight on December 31.

Some venues were granted special dispensations under existing legislation to stay open to 4am.

A group of owners have threatened to go to court next week over the new law.

“The by-law will be phased in over the next few months and will not be stringently enforced until all role players have been extensively educated and informed about the new legislation,” the city's communications department said in a statement on Thursday.

However the statement also quoted the chairman of the council's liquor policy task team Taki Amira as saying: “We will not enforce the by-law, fine nor prosecute people until all role players have been properly educated.”

Everyone would be “given a fair chance to make sure they comply with the law”, he said.

On Wednesday he said in a media statement that bars and clubs in business areas “will have to close by 02:00 on January 1”, and that liquor outlets “will have to abide by the new legislation”.

Amira and the city have been unable to say whether the new by-law means businesses will be able to stay open after 2am, selling non-alcoholic products such as coffee, and what will happen if patrons order several drinks just before 2am.

Amira also maintained on Wednesday that there had already been adequate communication on the changes.

“When people say, we haven't been told, we haven't been communicated (with), it shocks me,” he said then.

He said in Thursday's statement that the aim was not to immediately close down clubs, bars and restaurants that did not comply, but to “properly inform everyone affected by the new by-law in order for them to comply”.

“As with all new legislation, it has been decided that this new by-law will be phased in over a period of time,” he said.

The City's safety and security chief, Richard Bosman, said that initially the City's law enforcement agencies would merely register complaints from the public “and keep record thereof for future reference”.

- Sapa

Massive cocaine bust in Knysna

Nearly 50 bags of cocaine bricks with an estimated street value of R380 million have been seized at the Knysna waterfront, and two Chinese, a Taiwanese and two Capetonians have been arrested.

Police said the haul is believed to be one of the biggest in the province. They were unable to say where the drugs had been destined for, nor from where it had come.

“This bust was a result of a well-planned sting operation by crime intelligence and the Knysna police service after they received information from the public regarding illegal activities taking place near the Knysna Waterfront,” said Captain Malcolm Pojie.

On Friday, police swooped on a flat at the waterfront where the five suspects lived.

“After being interrogated, the suspects accompanied the police to their boat where the police discovered the 48 bags of bricked cocaine.”

Pojie said the boat was anchored next to the flat. The cocaine and the boat, worth approximately R1.5m, were confiscated.

By late yesterday afternoon police were still on the scene, combing the area for further clues.

“The investigation will be conducted by the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit, which is attached to the Hawks,” Pojie said. (from IOL)

Economic Crisis...

Drunk mommy forgets baby at one-night stand

A Cape Town mom got so drunk she forgot her baby at the home of a man she had a one-night stand with.

The 22-year-old mom says she forgot she had taken her child with her to a shebeen where she met a man she spent the night with.

Noxolo Lugwali, 22, had her whole Garden City, Mfuleni, community and cops mobilised looking for her two-year-old baby Linathi.

Meanwhile, the child was safely at the home of the unsuspecting lover who woke on Tuesday morning to find the mother had left without her baby.

Noxolo told the Daily Voice she had gone out on Monday evening to have a few drinks.

“I usually go with my child to the shebeen and drink while she is there,” she explained.

“I don’t know what came over me this time.”

She said she went home with a man she met at the Bardale shebeen and the next morning she went home without Linathi – and only realised hours later that the toddler was not with her.

It was after neighbours asked here where her child was on Tuesday afternoon that she started looking for her.

“I searched the whole area and didn’t find my daughter and then, after a while, I remembered that I went to that man’s house,” said Noxolo.

“When I arrived there, he told me he had been looking after her while I left her there.”

When the Daily Voice arrived at Noxolo’s home, the toddler was playing outside and her mother was sleeping inside the shack and had no idea that her baby was outside playing unattended.

Noxolo’s mother Nomaza Lugwali said: “My daughter only cares about alcohol and men and she doesn’t care about her own little girl.

“She has been in Cape Town for six weeks but she acts like she has been here for a long time.

“If I go to work, she takes her child to the shebeen and even though she has a boyfriend here, she will go to sleep somewhere else.”

Nomaza said she is grateful her grandchild is back home.

But she added that she would be sending her daughter to a special youth development centre so she can learn to be more responsible.

- Daily Voice

SAB "helps" with alcohol syndrome?

The Department of Social Development and SA Breweries are talking about how to tackle the high incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome.

The syndrome - which includes mental incapacity of children whose mothers drank alcohol while pregnant - is a big problem in Northern Cape and Western Cape, where a study has found 122 of 1000 children affected by it. (That makes it a whole 12%!)

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, SAB executives, academics and other experts are holding a two-day indaba in Boksburg, on the East Rand, to develop ways of dealing with the problem.

Dlamini said: "While aware that the SAB is in the business of selling liquor for profit, we welcome this partnership, because it shows that they have put national interest ahead of making profit at the expense of the people." OH FUCKING REALLY? 30000 shebeens in the Western Cape! Where did all that come from?

SAB's executive director for corporate affairs and transformation, Vincent Maphai, said: "This partnership between industry, experts and the government allows for the best utilisation of skills and resources to drive a meaningful and effective impact on the lives of South Africans affected by the abuse of alcohol."

The department and SAB said yesterday the indaba would try to "generate terms of reference for the appointment of an NGO to rollout the agreed programme [for fighting the syndrome]". (from TimesLive)

And in other news... SAB's earning rise by 16%

The world's second-biggest brewer, which earns more than 80% of its profits from emerging markets, said Africa and Asia had fully recovered, while high unemployment in mature markets was holding back any upturn in beer sales.

Chief executive Graham Mackay yesterday painted a picture of a two-speed world, with beer volumes growing in Africa and Asia and recovering in Latin America after a tax rise in Colombia, while the western world saw little improvement. (also from TimesLive)

Cape Town's drunk driving spree continues unabated

City and provincial authorities have arrested more than 2 500 motorists for drunk driving in the Western Cape in the past five months – an average of more than 500 a month.

A total of at least 2 555 motorists have been arrested since June - a figure compiled by the Cape Times from statistics provided by the City of Cape Town’s traffic service, provincial traffic service and metro police traffic officers, who conduct separate or integrated roadblocks but keep separate statistics.

These figures have been compiled as new campaigns have been launched to raise awareness about drunk-driving, campaigns which authorities say appear to be starting to shift driver attitudes.

Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said the number of drunk-driving arrests made monthly were affected by factors such as sporting events, the time of the month and the location of roadblocks.

Provincial traffic officers were responsible for main and national roads in the Western Cape and held 24 roadblocks each weekend.

In July this year provincial traffic officers arrested 198 drunk drivers, the highest number of arrests the provincial traffic service recorded in five months.

Africa attributed this to the World Cup during which a number of people had travelled between provinces to get to and from matches.

Numbers arrested spiked again in October when provincial traffic officers arrested 160 motorists for drunk driving, a figure up by 46 compared to the previous month.

“One of the main reasons it went up is because there were more rugby matches and other sporting events during the month.

“We also changed our strategy and went from static roadblocks to moving roadblocks which move from area to area,” Africa said.

Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said a range of factors affected the number of drunk-driving arrests made weekly.

“It’s very interesting how sports and other big events in Cape Town actually affect the arrests,” he said.

Merle Lourens, spokeswoman for the City of Cape Town’s traffic service, said four or five roadblocks were held a month in and around the city, not necessarily in the same areas each time.

She said the location of roadblocks depended on, among other factors, the accident rate in a particular area.

About 25 officers were deployed to each City of Cape Town roadblock.

The metro police also held roadblocks within the city, mostly over weekends.

Deputy metro police chief Yolanda Faro said the time and place of operations was planned according to offence patterns and crime threat analysis.

She said extra roadblocks and visible policing were planned for the festive season to clamp down on drunk driving.

Transport MEC Robin Carlisle said the figure of more than 2 500 arrests in five months was “extraordinarily high”, even by international standards.

But Carlisle said a number of initiatives aimed at clamping down on drunk driving had recently started bearing fruit.

These included the “Name and Shame” campaign which started last month and which involves the names of convicted drunk drivers being published.

“What we are finding, and that’s through chatting to people on buses, etc, is that they are aware of the campaign. There’s a change in attitude.

“We want to get the message across that it’s simply not worth having that extra glass of wine,” Carlisle said.

Fritz agreed that there appeared to be a shift in behaviour very recently.

Regarding the Name and Shame campaign, he said: “People are apparently petrified about this campaign.

“They’re really worried, so aren’t drinking and driving,” he said.

Fritz said extra visible policing and roadblocks seemed to result in fewer motorists taking chances.

Africa agreed that extra operations and the campaigns appeared to be working.

“The message is really getting out now. We won’t stop with the roadblocks until we’re not making any more drunk-driving arrests.

“There’s definitely a change in driver behaviour. We’ve received many phone calls from motorists saying they won’t be driving drunk any more because, for example, a friend or a colleague on Facebook told them not to drink and drive,” he said.

After radio broadcasts in which motorists were urged not to drink and drive, Africa said there was a decrease in the number of arrests being made in roadblocks.

“Motorists are adhering to our call.” (from IOL)

Shorter Liquor purchasing for Cape Town

Cape Town's drinkers will have less time to buy liquor or spend in pubs next year, the City said on Wednesday.

In terms of a new by-law, from January the new drinking hours for pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels would be 11am to 2am, instead of the current 10am start, with an option to continue to 4am.

For liquor stores and supermarkets, the liquor trading hours would be 9am to 6pm. Currently the hours were 8am to 8pm.

The councillor who chaired the City's liquor policy task team, Taki Amira, said it had been difficult to please everybody in the drafting of the new by-law.

"With over 3.6 million residents from widely divergent social environments, the City of Cape Town has a responsibility to treat all citizens equally and to help fight the scourge of alcohol abuse," he said.

"The City has tried to strike a balance between the hospitality industry which preferred longer trading hours, and community leaders who insisted on tighter regulations." (from IOL)

Premier signs Drink Driving Pledge - will it change the way people behave?

Western Cape premier Helen Zille has become the first South African to sign her name to an international campaign to combat drunk driving.

"We are very much hoping... that drinking and driving becomes as much of a taboo in South Africa as it is in many other countries in the world," she said.

The campaign, called Join the Pact, is run internationally by whisky maker Johnnie Walker, and was launched locally by the brand's local distributor Brandhouse Beverages.

Zille said at the Cape Town ceremony Tuesday that everyone should get into the "wonderful habit" of ensuring that if they went out and had a few drinks, there was a designated non-drinking driver to fall back on.

She joked that the way to avoid the hassle of deciding who was going to be the designated driver was to get elected into public office and get appointed as a premier or Cabinet minister.

"Then you have a driver who's a permanent designated driver and who's never allowed to drink so that you can have a few, and sit in the back, and feel good about life."

Brandhouse managing director Gerald Mahinda said South Africans needed to remind themselves of the tragic consequences of people who chose to drink and drive.

"If you choose to drink, make a plan so you don't have to drive," he said.

"We need to be the change that we want to see, and to take responsibility for our actions."

Taking responsibility for their actions is not something the alcohol industry is very good at. How come there are 30000 shebeens in the Western Cape? The alcohol industry supports these illegal operations and has in fact been setting them up. What about letting inebriated patrons leave the alcohol industry's licenced premises when it is obvious that they are about to drive home? Is that called taking responsibility?

Drunken Man sentenced to 3 years house arrest

A drunken man who stabbed his drunk common-law wife with a broken bottle neck during an argument was on Friday sentenced to three years' house arrest.

Henry Beukes, 33, appeared in the Bellville Regional Court before magistrate Deon Oosthuysen, who said neither Beukes nor the woman had any respect for each other.

The incident happened at Fisantekraal, near Durbanville, in March last year, when a drunk Beukes arrived home, to find his common-law wife, Maria October, drunk as well.

Oosthuysen said the woman had been jealous of Beukes, and in her own drunken state had physically attacked him.

This was triggered by a suspicion that Beukes was having an affair because he wanted to go out again for more to drink.

Oosthuysen said Beukes' defence, that he attacked the woman in self defence, was “laughable”.

He said Beukes had pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder, and a full scale trial had ensued before the court could get to the bottom of the incident.

Beukes was found guilty of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

Oosthuysen said Beukes had claimed innocence to the very end, and it was only now, that he was to be sentenced, that he claimed to have remorse.

Under house arrest, he would be free to work for a living and attend church, but he would not be allowed to consume liquor, or drugs without a doctor's prescription. (from IOL)

The sentence for stabbing someone in the face with a broken bottle is going home and spending 3 YEARS with NO DRUGS.

80% of crime in Motherwell linked to alcohol

Eighty percent of crimes committed in South Africa's third most populous township - Motherwell in Port Elizabeth - are alcohol-related, said police on Sunday.

Motherwell station commander Keith Meyer said that the 13 square kilometre township has 106 licensed taverns and many illegal shebeens.

“Apart from drunken driving and drunk and disorderly arrests, seven armed robbers were arrested for holding up a Somali-owned shop. The men, ranging in age from 18 to 26, will appear in court (on Monday). Another man was arrested after being found in possession of stolen goods, weapons and cash,” said Meyer.

Meanwhile, a 19-year old man was arrested in Nellmapius, near Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, after he allegedly stabbed to death another man following an argument over a girlfriend. Police spokesperson Shawane Sepato said the argument between the two men started in a tavern in the area.

Sepato said one man stabbed the other with a sharp object. The man was certified dead upon his arrival at hospital. Police arrested 145 suspects for various crimes during a crime operation in the Mamelodi cluster.

Sepato says suspects were arrested for crimes including possession of dagga, assault, possession of stolen motor vehicles and the possession of firearms and ammunition. (from IOL)

It really does not make sense to be arresting people for possession of cannabis when on the polices own version alcohol causes 80% of the crime!!! How about arresting some people for public drunkeness, or closing down illegal drinking establishments? This makes me wonder - Who is in charge of licencing 109 taverns in 13 square kilometres?

You can pick up a copy of the application at the South African Library and the application cost a whole R100. (Cape Gateway)

The Department of Trade and Industry is in charge of the Liquor Act. (the dti's liquor act page)

Should be Legalized

Major drug campaign planned

The Department of Social Development and the Central Drug Authority (CDA) are launching an anti-substance abuse national campaign, a department spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Abram Phahlamohlaka said the campaign would run with the theme “No place for drugs in my community”.

“South Africa is facing a growing phenomenon of substance abuse, which is linked to the illicit drug trafficking trade,” Phahlamohlaka said in a statement.

The launch would take place on October 14 in Upington in the Northern Cape, where there were high levels of substance abuse and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).

The drug trade had serious implications for South Africans because substance abuse contributed to crime, gangsterism, domestic violence, family dysfunction and many other forms of social problems, Phahlamohlaka said.

After the national launch provinces would conduct their own programmes in the form of door-to-door campaigns throughout the country, Phahlamohlaka said.

The Minister of Social Development Edna Molewa, accompanied by other national ministers, and Northern Cape Premier Hazel Jenkins, MEC Alvin Botes, and CDA members would conduct a door-to-door campaign in the areas most affected by substance abuse and educate communities on its dangers.

The campaign would aim to get people talking about the problem in the public arena, homes and schools, and to stimulate debate and action at all levels of society.

“The South African government recognises that the drug problem is complex and requires decisive and collective national action if the goal of creating a drug-free society is to be achieved”.

- Sapa

National Prosecuting Authority CLAIMS success... alas its all lies

Despite more than half of the cases set down for trial in court disappearing from the court rolls, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has claimed an 88% rate of successful prosecutions.

Reading the annual reports of the police and NPA together shows that a vast number of serious crime cases reported to the police are never enrolled for trial. Of those that are, more than 50% are taken off the roll for various reasons.

The two reports show that despite a moderate decline in the incidence of some serious crimes and an improvement in efficiency at the NPA, the country still has a great deal of serious crime — with more than a 75% chance of the culprits getting away with it.

National director of public prosecutions Menzi Simelane, in his first annual report tabled in Parliament yesterday, said there had been an improvement in the performance of the prosecuting service in 2009-10, with the conviction rate rising almost 3% from that achieved in the 2008-09 financial year.

“The disposal rate of the courts is also indicative of their improved performance. During 2008-09, a total of 1,07-million cases were disposed, of which 59,7% were removed from the roll by means of withdrawal, issuing of a warrant, transfer, mental referral or struck off the roll, and 40,3% were finalised with a verdict or an alternate dispute resolution method,” Mr Simelane said.

“During 2009-10, fewer cases were removed from the roll (and) more were finalised. A total of 1,06-million cases were disposed, of which 55,9% were removed from the roll and 44,1% were finalised. This translates into a 3,7% increase compared to 2008-09.”(from BusinessDay)

The Bushmen have a Cannabis enhancing plant?

South African Bushmen have been chewing kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) for hundreds of years to reduce stress, relieve hunger and elevate their moods. Now there are plans to market the exotic plant worldwide as a new over-the-counter drug

Aside from its potential health benefits and mood-altering qualities, the plant is also well known for its ability to enhance the effects of other psychoactive drugs - particularly cannabis. (From MNN)

Ben-Erik Van Wyk, a professor of botany and plantbiotechnology at the University of Johannesburg, said he's extensively researched the plant and found no ill effects or evidence of dependency. (Clearly the man hasn't tried hard enough!)

When chewed, the plant gives a slight head rush, which is similar to the effect of smoking a cigarette, Van Wyk said.

"It's a product with huge potential," he said. "Anyone who has chewed it and has experienced the sensation of the plant definitely knows there's something happening." (from Psyorg)

So clever..

The cannabis plant has a survival stragety which is ingenious. The cannabis flower is valued by humans for its effect when smoked. The one bit of the flower which IS not smoked are the seeds. Where do the seeds go? Pretty much EVERYWHERE!

Two men were due to appear in the Sterkspruit Magistrate's Court on Monday for the alleged possession of 58 bags of dagga, Eastern Cape police said.

Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Mpumelelo Landu said the two were arrested outside Sterkspruit when police searched two vehicles they were travelling in on Friday.

Police confiscated 58 bags of dagga each weighing about 120kg.

“The value of the dagga was about R6,9-million,” said Landu (From IOL)

How much cannabis does it take to kill a person?

Quite a lot. In fact so much that it's not possible according to the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs.

"Cannabis presents almost no toxicity and cannot lead to an overdose." Summary Report regarding Toxicity of Cannabis.

"I've heard that you have to smoke something like 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to get a toxic amount of Delta9 THC. I challenge anybody to do that..."

Dr. Paul Horby, PhD Biochemist & Human Pathologist

"There are no deaths from cannabis use anywhere; you can't find one "

Dr. Lester Grinspoon, MD Professor Emeritus, Harvard Medical School

How much alcohol does it take to kill a person?

A man died after downing a pint of vodka in four seconds, an inquest heard.

Richard Davies, 29, from Thornaby, near Stockton, had been drinking with friends before the alcohol knocked him unconscious in January.

Mr Davies was found not breathing in a pool of his own blood, and died hours later.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Teesside coroner Tony Eastwood said the alcohol in his system had killed him.

The hearing on Tuesday at Teesside Coroner's Court was told how the electrician's mate was five-and-a-half times the legal drink-drive limit and his body contained traces of the then-legal high mephedrone, which has since been banned.

However, Mr Eastwood said the alcohol in his system had killed him and that the mephedrone was not a contributing factor. (from BBC)

MDMA.... where have all the good drugs gone?

Remember when you used to take one little white pill and it would make your eyes roll back in your head as you came up so hard that you nearly fell backwards? Remember when you’d spend a whole night asking strangers for massages, combing other people’s hair, and convincing yourself dance music wasn’t crap? The clichés are now about as dated as the drugs are shit. An edgy twitch is not the same thing, and I’m sorry, if you’re under 21, you probably can’t understand what we’ve lost.

I was having this whinge to a dealer friend (who we’ll call Julio) about the current poor condition of the drugs market. Why Julio, I asked, is it not possible for your chemist brethren to create some pills that actually live up to their name? I want to actually feel ecstatic. I want joy in a pill. Give me “endless feelings of gooey warmth and happiness”. If I wanted a short-lived buzz followed by six hours of sleepless terror I would take speed.

Julio explained why it is that our pills are piss poor, and why MDMA has, for the last three or four months, taken on an uncanny likeness to speed. Shock, horror – they can no longer make MDMA. I wouldn’t have believed him if it hadn’t been confirmed by three additional dealers, all who advised me to ignore anyone claiming to be selling MDMA, unless they had buried it in a hole a year earlier only to sell it now in the high-demand market at inflated prices. One component of the compound 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, which was only legal to produce in China, has been made illegal to manufacture over there, making it near impossible to track down.

This has lead to every crooked chemist in the land coming up with shitty concoctions to feed us. That is why the MDMA is now mostly MDMC, tastes sweet and only gets you high enough to remind you how good real MDMA once was. Equally, they are packing those pills – which were already bulging with all sorts of non-kosher stuff like ketamine – with every possible substitute. Julio is just a dealer, not a politician, and doesn’t know when the situation will be sorted. I’ll leave the final words to Julio: “Just think about our kids, man. They’ll never know what the real shit was like.” (from Viceland)

Health warning... MDMA no longer exists.

Tik and risky sex linked

According to Andreas Plüddemann, Senior Scientist at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit at the Medical Research Council (MRC), the common thread in many studies, is the strong link between methamphetamine use and sexual behaviour, with many users reporting that tik use enhanced sexual experiences and vice versa.

“A number of users report experiencing highly positive aspects of sexuality whilst under the influence of methamphetamine, more so than any other substance-dependent group,” he said.

This, he added, also often led to a higher level of sexual risk behaviour, including multiple partners, risky partner types (e.g. anonymous sex partners), and high rates of unprotected sex among users.

“The link between tik use and risky sexual behaviour is a great concern, given the epidemic of tik use in the Western Cape and the area's high HIV stats.

“The use of methamphetamines can further fuel HIV infection rates, compounding what is already a health crisis,” he said.(from News24)

Tik less harmfull than mothers of tikheads

MOTHERS with drug-addicted children stood up to support Ellen Pakkies during her sentencing in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Friday.

Ellen was found guilty of murdering her tik-addicted child, Adam, on Friday 24 October. Magistrate Amanda von Leeve requested additional witnesses from Ellen's home in Lavender Hill to explain the situation in the family at the time before the murder to inform her sentencing.

Last year, 12 September, Pakkies turned herself in at the Steenberg Police Station, telling officers that she had strangled her son, who she said was addicted to tik and Mandrax.

On Friday, Adrian Samuels, Ellen's defence lawyer, presented Von Leeve with a range of mothers who had also suffered under the abuse of their tik-addicted children.

Vanetia Orgill from Mitchell's Plain took the stand to talk about her son, Troy (27), who had been a drug addict for over ten years.

Troy committed suicide at a friend's home at the start of the year. He had apparently stopped taking drugs for two years before his death, but had developed schizophrenia as a result of his drug abuse.

Orgill told the court that her son had on numerous occasions tried to kill her in his drug rages, and that on one occasion, in his drugged state, he had asked her and his sister for sex. Troy was forced to live outside the family home in a car as he could not be trusted in the house.

Orgill said her son had constantly been in and out of jail for theft.

Ellen's son Adam had likewise been forced to live in a shack in the family's back yard because he constantly stole from the house.

Orgill said her son would often throw rocks at the house, breaking all the windows; Adam had apparently done the same thing.

At one stage, said Orgill, she came close to breaking down, and forced a gun into her son's mouth. It was a family friend, apparently, who convinced her not to pull the trigger that night.

She said that "close to the end", she started wishing that her child would die. She told Von Leeve that she had given Troy a rope to hang himself with.

"People can call me hard and cold because I told my son: 'You pig, why don't you just hang yourself?'." And Troy did end up hanging himself.

Von Leeve asked Orgill what she thought when she first heard about Ellen's murder trial. "I thought, 'I hope she gets away with it,'" she replied.

Von Leeve stopped Samuels from presenting any more mothers, saying that the evidence would be too repetitive. Ellen's sentencing will continue on Thursday.

- Peoples Post

Central Drug Authority admits failure in war on drugs

The 2008 Central Drug Authority Annual report (p81) reads as follows:

"On the basis of comparing the baseline data contained in the CDA Annual Report 2006/2007, the NDMP mission of a measurable reduction in the supply, consumption and harm associated with substance use and abuse in South Africa has clearly not been achieved.

Current indications are that despite the work done by the CDA and it's incomplete implementing infrastructure, the drug problem has grown."

There it is in black and white. You might think that the CDA might ask why its policy is failing, but no. That doesn't happen.

The Western Cape war on drugs

The Western Cape has set about clamping down on illicit drugs. The arrests made for "drug related crime" make for interesting reading year on year:

2003 - 19,940
2004 - 30,432
2005 - 34,788
2006 - 41,067
2007 - 45,985
2008 - 52,781
2009 - 60,409

That would be 285,402 arrests in 6 years. Is this success? Does this mean fewer people are taking drugs? The answer to that is a resounding no. The war on drugs has FAILED and badly too. In 2002 there was no tik for sale on the streets. Now it's everywhere.

Success? No.

It's an easy way for the police to pad their statistics and please the politicians. All these arrests are lives ruined, but it's not by the drugs, but it's through the policy, the arrest, the criminal record. People who are addicted to drugs have a medical condition. I've never seen a medical condition successfully treated by incarceration, but that's the "policy" of the government.

War on drugs blows up in Western Cape's face

Nearly half of South Africa's reported drug-related crime between April last year and March this year was in the Western Cape.

Out of 134 840 incidents recorded nationally, 60 409 were in the province - an increase of 14.5 percent over last year's figures for the region. The number is also 200 percent higher than in the comparable period to March 2004.

The area with the most cases in the region, Mitchells Plain, recorded 6 572 drug-related crimes, up from 5 705 last year. Elsies River, Bishop Lavis and Manenberg were also drug crime hotspots.

The Medical Research Council's (MRC) Andreas Pluddemann said Mitchells Plain, with a population of 1.2 million, was the province's largest suburb and cautioned that this should be taken into account when analysing the area's high drug crime

Each sector patrol vehicle was expected to conduct a minimum of 20 stop-and-search operations each day, he said.

According to MRC figures, tik is still the most commonly used drug in the province.

Pluddemann said tik, crack cocaine and heroin were the drugs of choice for Western Cape users.

Speaking about the police's efforts to get drugs off the province's streets, Pluddemann said there remained more than enough drugs for users.

While there were a large number of drug-related arrests, "they are not really getting to the manufacturers", he said (IOL)

You have to wonder where you'd have to look to find evidence of success in the clampdown we see here? 60409 people in the Western Cape get criminal records. Now how are they supposed to get jobs? Ruining lives forever because someone has a medical problem never solved anything. Drug addiction is a medical, not criminal issue. Criminalizing drugs drives it underground meaning addicts do not get the treatment they need. The incarceration of addicts is a total misallocation of resources. Why not spend the same money on providing rehabilitation rather than wanting to put people in prison. The prohibition has failed, since there are more than enough drugs! South Africa has maintained a prohibitionist policy in it's National Drug Master Plans. Since 1998 tik and heroin has appeared from nowhere. Now it's ubiquitous. Kids in Khayelitsha are smoking it. If this is success for a prohibitionist I'd hate to know what failure looks like. From where I stand I just see the state failing out people.

International FASD day

Today is International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder day.

Alcohol advertising is well funded. Too well funded. £60million for a pretty Peroni ad campaign for instance!!!

SAB, the main driver of the problem, has provided a million rand sponsorship for a thousand FAS children. A R1000 per retarded child? That is what SAB are buying the silence of FASFACTS with.

Read more about FAS here.....

The alcohol industry itself is in denial. The ARA don't mention Fetal Alcohol Syndrome on their industry view points page or anywhere else for that matter.

In the meantime... "drink responsibly"... whatever that means.

Smoking laws to be tightened

Smoking outside, within five metres of your office door, will soon be illegal and companies found guilty of contravening the rule could face fines of up to R50,000

The Department of Health is poised to gazette new smoking laws, including those governing smoking outside, which could come into effect early next year.

Dr Yussuf Saloojee, director of the National Council Against Smoking, said yesterday: "Regulations for smoking within prescribed distances of entrances is coming pretty soon. Exact distances are still to be decided but it will probably be five metres."

But regulating smoking in public areas is not enough for Saloojee.

"Having smoking and non-smoking areas is like have peeing and non-peeing areas in a swimming pool," he said.

Speaking at a conference on cancer in Johannesburg yesterday, Saloojee said the link between smoking and cancer is "so well established that we don't need to do much more work on that".

"The real challenge is what do we do about it?"

Cigarettes, which Saloojee said contained the same products used to make paint stripper, ant poison, vinegar, rocket fuel, mothballs and disinfectant, were linked to an increased risk of contracting 15 types of cancer. They also predispose smokers to medical conditions like impotence, reduced semen quality, and reduced fertility in women.

"But I don't recommend smoking cigarettes as a method of birth control," Saloojee joked.

He said that regulating smoking in the workplace should also apply to domestic workers whose workplace was inside a home.

"There has been a deliberate decision by Parliament to exclude smoking legislation in the home," he said.

During the World Cup, every stadium was a designated non-smoking zone, which Saloojee said was only "partial victory" because right outside stadiums many football fans lit their cigarettes.(Timeslive)

In a ridiculous move the government is now making people walk 5 meters from their workplace's front door to have a smoke. South Africa has had some arbitrary rules in its past. Sticking pencils in people's hair? Welcome to the FIVE METER RULE! I hope the government realises that fining a company in the middle of a world wide financial recession R50000 will bankrupt most small firms. Good luck with that! What happens if a person walks 5 meters from where they work, but now it's right in front of another person's front door? Talk about making one's "own problems" someone else's. Personally I am not particularly fond of people smoking really near me, but this is crazy. Nuts. LOCO. The "doctor" is showing signs of paranoid delusions. No need to joke about unborn children Dr Saloojee... I wish the man would move on and "establish the link between cannabis and cancer", or not as the case may be..

Drunk British tourist falls to his death after night out

A British tourist's last night in Cape Town ended in tragedy when he fell to his death walking up the stairs to his lodgings.

Neil Anthony Woodcock and friends had returned from a celebration at a nearby restaurant to a double-storey Gordon's Bay house at about 11pm on Tuesday when he apparently lost his balance and fell 3.5 metres.

Police spokesman Gert van der Merwe said his friends reported he had been drinking, but didn't say how much, adding: "They also said that he had had heart problems." (from IOL)

Alcohol is JUST ANOTHER DRUG and a dangerous one at that. A heart attack might have killed him, but it's best to just look at the most obvious 3.5metre fall?

Forensic backlogs years long

Backlogs in toxicology testing at South Africa's three skills-strapped forensic laboratories are measured in years, Parliament's health portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.

Briefing members, health department cluster manager Melvyn Freeman said a "reasonable" time frame for toxicology analysis - a service provided to the SA Police Service and National Prosecuting Authority, essential in the investigation of so-called non-natural deaths - was two months.

But responding later to a question from Democratic Alliance MP Mike Waters, he conceded that the actual backlog was much longer than this.

Waters, who paid a visit to the three forensic laboratories in April this year, said the toxicology backlog at the Cape Town laboratory was seven years long; at Johannesburg, eight years; and at Pretoria, four years.

Waters also gave figures for the backlogs in the three laboratories' other key functions - blood alcohol analysis, mainly involving drunk driving; and food analysis.

"On drunken driving... it's between 12 and 16 weeks in Cape Town. In Johannesburg it's three years... By that time the court's thrown the case out and the guy's got away with it. And in Pretoria, it's 16 to 18 weeks.(from IOL)

Netherlands closing prisons due to lack of criminals

The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty. (nrchandelsblad)

IF only they were to indulge in a war on drugs like the South African government I am sure they could fill all those empty cells.... It's not as if they don't have enough dope smokers!

Child dies after taking unknown "G-fluid" drug.

A friend of Shane Jonker, the boy who died in a Krugersdorp nightclub at the weekend, apparently told medics they had drunk G-fluid, a type of Ecstasy.

"We should never have drunk that stuff," the friend said at the scene.

The friend referred to the type of Ecstasy in liquid form, Corné Ludick, co-owner of Fahrenheit nightclub in Boltonia said on Monday.

She said when she tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, she saw white granules, "like when you bite into a Panado", in his mouth.

Ludick says she has known Shane since he was a child, when she did pro bono work for children as a practising advocate.

"He was like part of the furniture here (at the club) and always referred to me as 'his mom'."

According to her, he arrived at the club, where a foam party was being held, shortly before 20:00 on Friday with between five and eight friends.

"We were still throwing shirts into the foam as gifts for the kids when one of his friends went to one of the bouncers and said Shane is lying on the floor."

Ludick carried Shane outside. She has first aid training and immediately checked his pulse and breathing.

"His body was still warm. His pulse was 46/50 and he was still alive.

"Then I saw his airway was blocked.

"I saw white granules in the yellow phlegm in his mouth and wiped it out with a tissue so I could open his airway. While I was doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, one of the guests called Netcare 911."

When the paramedics arrived and questioned his friends, Ludick heard one of them referring to G-liquid.

Shane was declared dead on arrival at the Netcare Krugersdorp hospital.

Police spokesperson Odette van Staden said a preliminary post-mortem was done but further tests are needed.

According to Ludick there was no violence toward any child at the club.

No irregularities or under-18s are allowed at the nightclub, and five security officers search guests for weapons and drugs and check their ID books. (from News24)

*********

I smell a rat. This the gung ho one sided story of a woman nightclub owner/advocate who has a child die in her club while on drugs. Not even drugs I've heard of mind you. G-fluid? What are we talking here? GHB maybe? No wonder the child is dead if alcohol was around. She found him alive, but his airway was obstructed? BY WHAT? Little granules like Panado doesn't obstruct breathing. If someone's airway is obstructed you have to clear their airway before starting CPR. When did his pulse stop? Where was the party's medic? Or did this woman think she had it all in hand, being first aid trained and all, but standing there with no equipment. And finally.... notice this woman KNOWS about G-fluid?

If anyone who reads this has ever heard of G-fluid please do write in the comments. I would of course check on the CDA's database, but it doesn't exist.

Three cheers for drunk driving Cape Town

The Western Cape has a shocking record for drinking, driving and killing people on our roads. Statistics include:

So far this year nearly 2 000 people have been arrested for driving under the influence in the province. This past weekend alone, 96 people were arrested for drunk driving.

From January to May, 296 people were killed on provincial roads - 87 drivers, 101 passengers and 108 pedestrians, says the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works.

"Speeding and drunk driving are the two major causes of road fatalities," said Solly Malatsi, spokesman for the department.

Caro Smit, director and founder of the NGO South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD), said "people drink drive in South Africa because they can and they have got away with it for so long". (from IOL)

Nothing strikes harder than IRONY. Not even the strikers!

Premier Helen Zille was struck by the IRONY of SAB being a sponsor in the "War on Poverty"! Why is she struck by this? Has the War on Poverty superceded the War on Drugs? Has she all of a sudden realised that alcohol is a drug and that the Western Cape has a chronic drinking problem?

So what happened? How did South Africa double its alcohol consumption in the incredibly short time of 8 years? In the 1998 it was 10 litres of alcohol per person per annum, but by the 2006 National Drug Master Plan it had climbed to 20 litres!(p.8) The cost of alcohol to the country is beteen R10Billion and R20Billion per annum.(p.5/8) SAB's turnover from South Africa in 2008 was $US4,4Billion while employing 9200 people. Accepting lower figure means each SAB employee COST the country just over a million rand each in damages which the country bears rather than SAB. Whatever happened to product liability?

SAB happened. 200 000 shebeens happened. SAB accounts for 90% of beer sold in South Africa. Quite how SAB beer gets into the shebeens is just a mystery. There is apparently a bootlegging industry:

"One group who may feel marginalised by the normalisation of shebeens are the bootleggers - the independent retail distributors (IRDs), who supply the shebeens. Like the shebeen owners, the IRDs are illegal and in a new dispensation would no longer supply many of the resulting taverns. But necessity is the mother of invention and many IRDs will find alternative outlets to ply their trade. In practical terms, SAB could never supply all shebeens/taverns in the townships." (Financial Mail)

Who are these people selling such large quantities of alcohol to obviously illegal operations? There's no bona fides here.

Who is responsible for alcohol? Surprisingly it's the National Liquor Authority, which is part of the Department of Trade and industry.

If the Department of Trade and Industry knows there are 200 000 shebeens in the country what steps has the NLA taken to close these down? What steps has the NLA taken to find how the shebeens get the stock into their SAB sponsored fridges reserved for SAB products only? And are these not practices not uncompetitive in terms of the law?

Perhaps the National Liquor Authority has some answers for the premier. They have a highly informative FAQ, but it's not what you're thinking. No one is asking what about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? What is the rate now? No one is asking about all the dead pedestrians 60% of whom were blind drunk? (NIMSS 2007) 57% of all violent deaths in South Africa had drunk victims. 50% of all drivers killed were intoxicated. 46% of victims of "other unintentional deaths" were drunk.

The answer might lie in first National Drug Master Plan of 1998 which put alcohol in the care of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The alcohol industry has a public face. Unlike alcohol the website is safe, smiling and non threatening. The website is of course propaganda through and through. For instance the obfuscation regarding whether alcohol causes violence:

"Violence clearly occurs independent of alcohol consumption, even in countries whose populations largely abstain from drinking. For example, both domestic and other violence are prevalent in countries where alcohol consumption is discouraged or forbidden."

I do wonder if the Premier likes her tea "met ys"?

SAB 'irony' strikes Zille

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has been "struck by irony" after discovering the sponsor for a "War on Poverty" event in one of the poorest regions of the Western Cape was South African Breweries.

According to the Premier one of those visited "Was so drunk he could not stand on his feet and kept referring to me as 'baby'."

"When the master of ceremonies moved the vote of thanks for the day's proceedings, I was struck by a final irony.

"The major corporate sponsor of the event was none other than South African Breweries. Go figure." (From News24)

Largest cannabis bust in South Africa for 10 years

East London police seized over four tons of dagga with an estimated value of R5.8 million on Wednesday night in what has been labelled the biggest dagga bust in the area since 2000.

The arrest was made by members of the East London Dog Unit .

“We then took the truck through to East London to the fire brigade and got them to cut open the locks at the back with an angle grinder and found the massive haul of dagga inside,” said Captain Robert Muller

“We suspect it is from deep inside the Transkei and the driver was heading to Cape Town. The N2 is one of the main dagga-smuggling routes in the country.”

Each bale had a unique marking on it, which police said was used by the smugglers to identify who had placed the order.

In total, some 135 bags weighing 4.48tons were removed. The dagga has an estimated value of R5.8 million . “This is easily the biggest consignment of dagga that police have confiscated in the last 10 years,” said police spokesperson Captain Stephen Marais.

Marais said the man would appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of dealing in dagga. (from the Dispatchonline)

Massive cocaine bust in Port Elizabeth

Cocaine with a street value of about R1.4bn, was seized in an "unusual" container at the Ngqura harbour in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, police said.

"The container was unusual in that it looked like a petrol tank and had a construction with pillars holding it together," police spokesperson Captain Sandra van Rensburg said.

"Inside the container we found 22 000 litres of oil and inside the pillars, the cocaine was hidden."

Police were still trying to establish the amount of drugs in the container. By late on Wednesday afternoon, they weighed out about 100kg, with an estimated street value of about R1.4bn.

Police suspect there was about 250kg of "pure cocaine".

"Right now, we still need to pump oil out of the container to see if there are more pillars inside," said Van Rensburg.

No arrests had been made yet. (from News24)

How was the figure of R1.4billion was reached? If you divide that by the price of cocaine per kilogram (R350000) you get to 4000kgs!!! IF it is pure cocaine it can be cut into three for sale and the total drug amount is 750kg's at R350000/kg which only amounts to R262million. Either way there is some funny SAPS maths going on.

The police are highly premature in announcing their "find" before they have made any arrests. Perhaps they got all "chatty" once they had handled and played with 100 kg's of cocaine and they just couldn't keep it IN any more.

Zille, Motlanthe's boozy welcome

Drunken residents opened the doors of two of the first three houses visited by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Western Cape premier Helen Zille during a door-to-door visit to two Plettenberg Bay townships yesterday.

In one house the householder kept calling Zille "baby".

Motlanthe is on a countrywide anti-poverty campaign driven by the Presidency.

They were welcomed by drunken residents in KwaNokuthula, where houses are supplied by the government.

In one house, a 47-year-old woman told the delegation that she was unemployed and asked if the government could provide her with food parcels. She said until two months ago the family had lived on their 89-year-old mother's pension grant, but she died in June.

The woman, who is also HIV-positive, is getting free anti-retrovirals from the state.

Zille said she was shocked by the levels of alcohol abuse. In the case of this woman, the state had done all it could do. "It has provided a pension, medical care and housing."

In another house, Zille found a couple who complained about unemployment, but they were so drunk that the man kept addressing Zille as "baby".

- Cape Argus

Embedded reporters join war on drugs

On Thursday the Cape Argus accompanied police as they raided two suspected drug houses and a brothel in Woodstock. The first house raided was in Church Street, at 11.15am. (from IOL)

No mention made of search warrants., just more one sided propaganda. It's as if the journalists have all stopped thinking.

Whatever happened to decriminalising cannabis?

For those of you NOT in the know, the 1998 National Drug Master Plan called for the decriminalisation of cannabis to be investigated (page 18). It's 2010 now. So what happened?

In 2006 the new National Drug Master Plan was rolled out and "decriminalisation" and other "harm reduction measures" just dropped right out.


Whatever happened to the call for decriminalisation? The government DID do a study called the "South African Cannabis Position paper". It is NONSENSE and it's available here. The government hasn't released the document mind you. That would be too embarrassing. The paper would have you believe that cannabis smokers can hold their breaths for "minutes"!! The paper is defective primarily because it failed to properly examine the "harm done by cannabis." Just how many deaths are we talking? None I tell you. I wish I could bring you good news, but the sad reguritated propaganda produced by people singing for their supper is what we have to deal with.

So there you have it. Decriminalisation has gone NOWHERE.

Decriminalisation is not the answer though. Decriminalisation is bad for the law. Decriminalisation means that the police just get to "ignore" the law - usually when involving small amounts only. This is bullshit. Imagine a law stating you were not allowed to carry more than 6 beers at a time? If you've got a seventh one the police can arrest you. It doesn't make sense. Decriminalisation is based on a lie. The law is wrong and the law has to change. The prohibition of cannabis has ruined thousands of lives and with the police now getting big pats on the back for each arrest the rate of injustices perpetrated is accelerating.

On a personal note two weeks ago a friend of mine was caught in possession by 5 policemen. When they weren't expecting it he jumped over the handcuffs, grabbed the joint and ate it. The cops didn't take too kindly to this and beat the shit out of him and then maced him while he was lying on the ground. All this for a joint? I ask you.