J Benjamin: International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking

29 June 2006

Master of Ceremonies
Executive Mayor
Members of the Executive Council
Traditional leaders
Distinguished guests
Colleagues and officials from government departments,
Delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
Boys and girls

I feel indeed honoured to address you at this exciting event to celebrate
the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. I want to
thank the organisers of this event more especially the provincial Department of
Social Welfare, for inviting me and thus involving me at this important
campaign day.

Not only do I feel honoured to participate in activities related to the
young people of South Africa, but also to be part of an anti drug event. The
fact that the theme for this year is �Drugs and Children� with its slogan
�Drugs are not child�s play,� becomes significant to me. Significant in the
sense that the global problem of drug abuse is being recognised, but more
importantly the fact that the international community realises the need to do
something to stop drug abuse amongst the children and the youth.

The magnitude of the drug problem in the world is causing sleeplessness to
quite a number of world leaders. Justifiably so, if you read the United Nations
World Drug Report of 2005 it becomes apparent that the abuse of hard drugs such
as heroine, crack/cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS),
ecstasy, etc, has reached alarming levels and there is no reason to believe
that this problem will be resolved or contained in the near future. What is
even more frightening is the fact that our children are in the forefront of
drug abuse.

With regard to the availability of drugs, we are aware of various countries
producing illegal crops such as cannabis or the poppy plants needed for the
manufacturing of drugs. International drug syndicates make it their business to
distribute these illegal substances across borders to countries all over the
world. Often we will hear reports of huge quantities of illegal drugs being
confiscated. These confiscations are always an achievement not only for busting
these illegal operations but also for the fact that these drugs would have
destroyed more human lives. Unfortunately, there are huge quantities of drugs
being manufactured and distributed in different illegal ways with the result
that only about 10 percent of illegal substance is confiscated. There are thus
still more than enough drugs available despite all our efforts to stop drug
trafficking. The price of drugs could differ depending on the availability
thereof, especially after significant confiscations.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the reason I am sharing with you these
issues related to the supply of illegal drugs is that we will understand the
magnitude of the problem. We need to know what we are dealing with in order to
be effective in our own anti drug efforts. It is important to realise that the
people involved in the production and manufacturing of illegal drugs has
established an industry worth billions of rands. It is a business, illegal in
nature, managed by unscrupulous people. The income from the production of
illegal crops, the manufacturing and distribution and selling of illegal drugs
is the main source of income for millions of households over the world.

In South Africa, the situation is not much better. In the past the use of
hard drugs was fairly unknown to us. Alcohol abuse, as still is the case, was
the drug of choice for a significant number of South Africans whilst cannabis
alone or in combination with mandrax (known as the �white pipe�) was commonly
used. Today, it is a different story. Hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine are
commonly used whilst there is a dramatic increase in demand for methamphetamine
especially in Cape Town, particularly among persons under the age of 20. In
fact one in five patients reporting for treatment in Cape Town now report
methamphetamine to be their primary or secondary drug of abuse and 41 percent
report daily use. As elsewhere in the world the young people are targeted by
drug dealers and consequently become victims of drug abuse.

It is thus clear that the drug situation in South Africa has deteriorated
drastically during the past 15 years with devastating consequences in terms car
accidents, un-natural deaths, domestic violence, HIV infections, criminal
behaviour, job losses, school drop out, health related illnesses etc. The drug
problem of the country is of such a nature that it affects the social fabric of
our society. We should not tolerate this situation any more and unite in our
fight against drug abuse.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, there should be a two prong approach
to the problem. Firstly, we should reduce the supply of and secondly the demand
for drugs. In terms of supply reductions the South African Police Service
(SAPS), Department of Justice and others are already doing excellent work and
they liaise closely with other countries and international agencies.

My Department is the lead department in reducing the demand for illegal
drugs. Our services include prevention, early intervention, referrals,
treatment which include community based or residential treatment and aftercare
services to assist patients with their re-integration into their families and
communities. Today, I would like to concentrate on services related to the
prevention of substance abuse as the event of today is an excellent example of
an activity of this nature.

We all know that it is much more effective to prevent people from
experimenting with drugs as it is extremely difficult and costly to
successfully treat a person with a drug problem. Unfortunately, once you have
become addicted to drugs you will always be a drug addict but in treatment we
aim to help you to at least be drug free. There will always be the threat of a
relapse so you have to work hard to stay drug free. The situation of a drug
addict is not a very favourable one and should thus be avoided by all means. It
is for this reason that we want to place more emphasis on drug prevention as
the ideal level of intervention.

Ladies and gentlemen, how do we go about preventing the drug problem? We
have a fairly good understanding of the drug problem and are aware of the fact
that the children who are often vulnerable, inquisitive and exceptive to
influences are targeted by the drug lords. I believe we should make our
children aware of the drug problem and educate them by means of factual
information on the dangers of substance abuse. Should our children be
confronted with drug use they should at least be able to take an informed
decision. It is true that the drug dealers, who can even be your so called best
friend, can be very convincing for you to take drugs. Should you have personal
or household problems, the temptation to use drugs can even be more
tempting.

I believe that irrespective of drug awareness and education we should also
capacitate our children by teaching them life skills on how to cope in a very
competitive and challenging environment. Our children should be capacitated to
live their lives without using any substances. We all know that drug abuse does
not resolve any problems and actually worsens these problems. Most of us know
people who are addicted to drugs and can share stories of how these drug
addicts have messed up their lives.

Therefore, Programme Director, any initiative to prevent drug abuse should
be applauded. An event like today is excellent in making people aware of the
drug problem. Even more so with the artists here today we see living examples
of people who have been drugging but managed to overcome their drug problems
and are now living constructive lives without drugs. I would like to challenge
to capitalise on the initiative and take the process forward. There are very
exciting initiatives on the level of drug prevention where you can become
involved.

My Department, for example is managing a comprehensive anti drug campaign
targeting the youth known as �Kemoja� (No Thanks I�m Fine without Drugs). This
model has been developed and is being rolled out to provinces. The Department
of Education is also involved and identified schools in all provinces will
specifically be targeted. With the creativity of your schools in the province,
it would really add value should you be able to become involved in the
campaign.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I would like to see more and more
children becoming involved in the running of drug awareness programmes such as
today. It just makes sense that children will be in a stronger position to
manage programmes for a target group they know and understand and with whom
they can easily identify. Even if you start small by targeting your own school
and ensuring that your school is drug free, you have already achieved
something. From there you could expand to other areas where your involvement is
needed.

Programme Director, I would like to conclude. I am very excited about what
is happening here today. If one school or community in South Africa can achieve
so much in making others aware and thus contributing to drug prevention, can
you imagine what the impact could be if this example is followed by other
schools or communities.

Today is a fun day filled with many exciting activities and well known
artists but not forgetting that today is the platform for those without a voice
and those without courage to face and overcome their drug addiction. In closing
I want to echo what former President Nelson Mandela once said, �Education is
the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.� Let us do just
that.

In support of all the prevention efforts allow me to launch the policy on
the management of substance abuse which clearly defines the interventions of
social development and the model for the treatment of substance dependant youth
in residential facilities which outlines essential elements for treatment fro
children and youth and finally the minimum norms and standards which were
approved by the Department to manage the registration and monitoring of
treatment centres in the country including youth facilities offering substance
abuse services.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Social Development
29 June 2006