Home PodcastJulie Alli The war on drugs needs joint effort

The war on drugs needs joint effort

by Salaamedia Intern
Dr Abrahams believes decriminalising marijuana was a big mistake by the government Photo Pexels

South Africa – Last month the US Customs and Border Protection agency seized a large quantity of fentanyl in a shipment from South Africa. This month, India seized cocaine and methamphetamine in consignments of apples, pears and oranges, exported from South Africa. While this is shocking to hear, the war on drugs is still being fought and being won slowly but surely. 

The drug industry is flourishing in South Africa. New methods of smuggling drugs in and out of the country have only increased the profitability of the trade. This new development raises the old question on whether the war on drugs is being won. Dr. Nazeem Abrahams, from Light House on the Horizon, expressed his shock at how much drugs are being imported and exported but stressed the war on drugs is one that can be won and is being hard fought.

“I’d like to say from my very humble opinion that I do believe that we are [winning the war on drugs]. The only way we will and continue to win is through Allah’s (SWT) grace and mercy and to be able to empower and to educate our youth and our communities at large. So that they can in fact make better decisions and better choices. At the end of the day if you look at it, it’s all about demand and supply. Illicit drugs is a business. Sadly, this business will continuously flourish and sell until the demand goes away.”

 

Decriminalising marijuana was a mistake

The government made a bold move in decriminalising marijuana earlier this year. However, the plan is not fully legal as yet. Buying, selling and growing cannabis is still illegal. As of 2017, it has become legal to buy cannabis for medicinal reasons from a practitioner. CBD is also available for legal consumption and while some require a permit, just like cannabis, some products are available for public sale without consumption. Abrahams firmly believes the decriminalisation of marijuana has only made it easier for young kids to obtain it and it was a huge mistake by the government.

“What they’ve done was they’ve actually opened up the gates for our youth to be able to dabble with cannabis and cannabis oils on a level that is by far more dangerous than it ever was. Edibles are now being consumed by our eight, nine and seven-year-olds in our primary schools and in our schools. Our teachers are not equipped. Our schools are not equipped. They don’t have the knowledge firstly; they don’t have the professional ethic to be able to deal with substance abuse.” 

Decriminalising marijuana has worked in many other countries, but South Africa is different. Enough thought has not been given to the situation, believes Abraham.

“These things are being decriminalised because fundamentally there’s a huge amount of money involved. Phenomenal amounts of money are involved. I speak under correction but if you think about it they decriminalise these things because now they can tax it. They can get paid tax on it. They’re using the thinking that they would be able to have more of a control over it which is a lie. A total lie. There’s no way they’re going to have any kind of control over it.”

Abrahams has likened the situation to cigarettes. Just the government thought they could control it, it took them many years before they actually could. By the time it was under control, the extensive damage was already done. 

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The message Abrahams is trying to spread to stop the drug epidemic 

The lifestyle that is being pushed on the youth of today is drugs, fancy cars and doing anything to obtain it. It is the media they consume, the music they listen to and even the games they play. To have any hope of persuading the youth to abandon this lifestyle, a shift i attitude needs to take place, explained Abrahams. 

“Our youth are being captured by a subculture lifestyle rather than a cultured lifestyle. A cultural lifestyle is a lifestyle of good with healthy rituals and nothing but good. We should make sure and even force to a point that our children live a cultural lifestyle. We need to make certain we don’t allow our children to dwell in the subcultural lifestyle. We monitor their media, their clothing, type of cultural aspects they chase after” 

This is the message Abrahams believes the leaders need to push out to the community. He has also called for affluent families to push the same message and not to push the brands that have an opposing message. If the community works together, the road to illicit drugs will be on the youth won’t venture down. The object is to take away the appeal of drugs from the youth which would hurt the demand of it and hopefully cause those who are selling it to give. Although the war on drugs is being won, much more is needed to win the war once and for all. 

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