Paarl a drug 'hot spot'
2006-06-22
PAARL is now officially one of the hot spots concerning drug consumption in the Western Cape.
Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool spoke at the recent opening of the country’s first public opiate detoxification unit at the Stikland Hospital and identified Paarl as one of the ten hardest hit areas in the Western Cape.
“Tafelsig has overtaken Manenberg as the area with the highest drug consumption, followed by Manenberg and areas like Belhar, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Paarl.”
Tik was the drug of choice and the entry-level drug.
“Tik leads to heroin (abuse). Over 18 000 people in the Western Cape are addicted to it. It is a frightening statistic. When Tik cannot satisfy them any more, they move on to heroin.”
Quoting recent statistics by the Medical Research Council, Rasool said 25 percent of those in drug treatment centres were under 20.
While dagga and Mandrax were still the most common illicit drugs, tik had become the primary substance of abuse since last year.
The province was only at the start of putting together a drug master plan, Rasool said.
Rasool’s concerns were echoed by Mzwandile Petros,
Commissioner of Police in the Western Cape, who spoke at the Youth Day programme in Paarl town hall.
“The youth is the cutting edge of the revolution. In the past the enemy was Apartheid, today it is crime and drugs.
“We must talk to the youth of yesterday and asked them what happened to parenting.
“They must gave the lesson of the past to their children and then we won’t see offenders getting younger and younger.”
He said that during the whole of 2005 a total of 387 cases involving drugs were reported to the police in Paarl East.
Of these 58 concerned youths. The youngest, seven years, was caught with Mandrax and dagga.
Since January this year, 242 cases have already been investigated, with 40 involving youths.
The youngest of the offenders was 14 years.
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