Abundance of heroin confirmation that war on drugs in the Western Cape is lost.

The "war on drugs" has been lost.  There are more drugs, more people selling drugs, more people doing those drugs and more arrests each year.  80% of the SAPS' time spent on drugs is spent on cannabis, with only 20% focussed on all the other drugs including herion and tik. The misfocussing of resources has meant far less desireable drugs such as heroin and tik has spread widely, while the police have spent their time chasing a truly safe drug.

Heroin addiction has claimed the lives of at least three people in the Western Cape in the past three weeks and 32 since the start of the year.

Zampelli, also known as Franco, was found dead in a park in Bellville on June 18 after escaping from the Together We Can drug rehabilitation centre not far away.

A friend of Zampelli (who is also an addict) said: “I buy it for R40 for a quarter of a gram. Mostly, I buy seven quarters a day but sometimes I get up to 20. We stop in Durban Road (Bellville) and buy it from dealers, from Nigerians to Tanzanians and Moroccans, next to the road. I’ve got more than 10 dealers’ numbers on my phone. I’m banned from the local pharmacy because I was always trying to get them to give me needles.” (so much for the needle replacement talk in the NDMP of 1998)

The friend said he had lost six friends in the past year, all aged 24 to 30, to heroin addiction.

Sources said at least three people have died from heroin overdoses in the past three weeks, while 32 people have died this year. (from IOL)

Evidence of the failure of the war on drugs: 

Heroin only costs R160 a gram! How cheap is THAT!? Madness!

32 people have died from heroin this year (far short of the +50% of deaths alcohol is involved in)

The number of heroin cases on the court roll.

The number of arrests per annum (Western Cape ONLY):

2003/2004 - 19940

2004/2005 - 30432

2005/2006 - 34788

2006/2007 - 41067

2007/2008 - 45985

2008/2009 - 52781

2009/2010 - 60409

2010 /2011 -  70588 (source)

 

355990 arrest in 8 years. Each year more arrests than the previous. This is all evidence that the war on drugs has been lost. It's over. Now it's just a body count we can look forward to thank our politicians for.

Proponents of the war on drugs will argue that more of the same policy is needed to win. More resources and better policing will win this war they say. Would a 100 000 arrests for drugs be enough? How many arrests will be enough? The court rolls are full of these cases. If the accused is convicted or admits guilt and cannot immediately pay the fine they go to prison. Pollsmoors officials have admitted to me that they can do nothing for them, yet they are at their wits end as they numbers just keep escalating.  Each arrest requires the police to visit the residence of the arrested person to verify the accused lives at the address, taking up thousands of man and vehicle hours not to mention the cost of petrol. 

The actions of the police need close examination. The police are pushing young coloured people up against the wall and searching them with NO REASONABLE SUSPICION. Finding something is enough justification. Finding nothing means the searched person gets to go free - WOW! Young coloured people (in particular) living in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town apparently have no right to privacy. 

  
I have written about the SAPS killing in the name of the war on cannabis. A good friend of mine was badly beaten by the police at the Atrium in Claremont because the ate the joint the police caught him with. Beaten, handcuffed and then peppersprayed by Arno Lamoer and 4 of his lackeys - with no resistance at all. Arresting people is not enough anymore?

The war is over. Sadly it was no contest. Recovering from this loss is going to take a change in policy and honesty about drugs.