Heroin becoming a major problem in townships and rural areas
African Christian Democratic Party MP Cheryllyn Dudley
28 May 2003
Heroin is fast becoming a major problem in areas outside its usual urban middle to upper class market, and trading on South Africa's production of locally grown cannabis.
According to Gary Lewis of the United Nations Drug Control Programme, heroin use has exploded in many townships and rural areas, including Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. The problem of addiction in these areas is heightened by the lack of access to treatment or education about the effects of the drug, says ACDP spokesperson on health Cheryllyn Dudley.
Questioning whether the government was aware of the extent to which heroin use is spreading around South Africa, Dudley also asked whether the Department of Safety and Security had investigated the link between South Africa's cannabis production and the supply of heroin entering the country.
"Heroin sells for one tenth of the price here that it sells for in other countries," Dudley said during a Parliamentary question sitting on peace and security. "Many factors point to the fact that money is not being used to purchase the drug, but is rather exchanged for cannabis which is grown locally here. It is already known that cannabis is exchanged for the drug ecstasy through huge networks of underground trade markets overseas.
"The ACDP would like to know what mechanisms are in place to track these markets and deal with the presently unhindered supply. As a drug, cannabis is often not taken seriously, yet it generates these huge exchanges, so we would like to see the government concentrate on curtailing the current production of cannabis and choke the exchange process.
"We also need to break the mindset that this is an upper-middle class drug. It's everyone's problem and the government needs to recognise this as a fast-growing crisis.
The Central Drug Authority and the United Nations are launching a major prevention awareness campaign called "KEMOJA" (No thanks. I'm fine!), starting in Cape Town on the 26 June. Will government be partnering with them in their efforts?
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For more information: Cheryllyn Dudley MP at 082 890 6520
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307