Swazi dagga a threat to 2010 World Cup

MBABANE –Swaziland has been cited as one of two countries that grow dagga for the Southern African market.

The other country linked to the dagga growing is ironically another kingdom, Lesotho. The shocking revelation was made by the South African Ceantral Drug Authority National Co-ordinator Johan Kruger.

Speaking to South African media, Kruger said; “Swaziland and Lesotho are the countries that grow cannabis for South Africa. The region has actually been dubbed a net exporter of cannabis to other countries and there is also a danger that the 2010 World Cup will worsen drug trafficking”, said Kruger

Police PRO Vusi Masuku confirmed that they cannot rule out that possibility.
“We have had instances where the army has captured people smuggling dagga out of the country to neighboring South Africa,” said Masuku.

“Locals and other nationals have also been arrested for trying to smuggle large quantities of dagga. The anti-drug unit has been engaged in a vigorous campaign that is aimed at eradicating dagga. The unit has conducted raids often in a number of forests across the regions and found dagga plants which they subsequently destroyed,” added Masuku.
South African Deputy Chairman of the Central Drug Authority David Bayever said, “Cannabis use was three times the global average in South Africa. Drugs and substance abuse problems were the underlying causes of ills such as HIV/AIDS, violence and crime. Our youth are going to be on holiday and they are going to be targeted. During the tournament law enforcement and customs officials will be under pressure due to massive tourist inflows. We need to handle substance abuse”.

In the past couple of months, local police have confirmed to have destroyed large hectares of dagga worth millions of Emalangeni in street value.

“The latest dagga destroyed was worth a street value of E7.2million which was found in Ndzingeni, Mabhindzi and Mgungundlovu. In previous years we have worked hand-in-hand with our South African counterparts in destroying various large fields of dagga using helicopters and spraying chemicals,” said Masuku.

With South Africa hosting the biggest sporting event globally in three months time, the country is on high alert where drug trafficking and any other criminal offences that are bound to paint a negative image are concerned.

- Times of Swaziland

New Study Confirms Cannabis as an Effective Painkiller

A new California state-sponsored study has found that medical cannabis can reduce pain for patients suffering from HIV/Aids, multiple sclerosis, and cancer.

“This study confirms all of the anecdotal evidence that those of us who have been in the midst of this epidemic for many decades now," San Francisco Democratic State Senator Mark Leno told Capital Public Radio, "how lives have been saved and pain has been eased as a result of medical marijuana.”

Researchers at The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC-San Diego say the experiments, which involved two-hundred people participating in five different test groups, show that cannabis was just as good or better than traditional pain medications.

A news release from The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research says the group "was created in 2000 (through the passage of SB847) to conduct clinical and pre-clinical trials of cannabinoids, including smoked marijuana, to provide evidence, one way or the other, to answer the question 'Does marijuana have therapeutic value?'"

“We focused on illnesses where current medical treatment does not provide adequate relief or coverage of symptoms,” said Dr. Igor Grant, CMCR director and Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine. “These findings provide a strong, science-based context in which policy makers and the public can begin discussing the place of cannabis in medical care.”

“These scientists created an unparalleled program of systematic research, focused on science-based answers rather than political or social beliefs,” Senator John Vasconcellos said in the release. Vasconcellos was the original author of The Medical Marijuana Research Act of 1999 (SB847), which led to the creation of the CMCR.

The study (PDF) was presented to the California legislature and public on February 17, 2010.

Scare mongor Bayever at it again

South Africa is in danger of becoming a major hub for drug trafficking, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday.

West African syndicates had recently become major drug traffickers after Central American cartels began using them due to difficulty with their traditional routes, the office's Jonathan Lucas said at the release of the International Narcotics Control Board's annual report.

"Increased surveillance on traditional routes had made them become unprofitable."
He said if these new routes through West Africa were successfully dealt with by authorities, Central American cartels would again look for other alternatives.

"When they are diverted, will they come to South Africa? Maybe."
There was also a danger the 2010 World Cup would worsen drug trafficking.
During the tournament law enforcement and customs officials would be under pressure due to massive tourist inflows.

"We are aware it is going to be a big problem for us," said Central Drug Authority deputy chairman David Bayever.

He described trafficking cartels as "well-researched guys that know where the loopholes are".
Despite these threats SA's drug problem remained primarily a domestic one, with alcohol and dagga use being well above global averages.

"Cannabis use was three times the global average in South Africa and its alcohol consumption put it in the top 10 of countries."

{it's alcohol consumption put it in the top 10 countries... ehm SA's alcohol
consupmtion has INCREASED 10 FOLD since Bayever has been head of the CDA,
likewise our "above the global average" cannabis consumption: IE what you - YES
YOU DAVID BAYEVER are doing IS NOT WORKING!!!!!!}

Bayever said drugs and substance abuse problems were the underlying causes of such ills as HIV and Aids, violence and crime.

"It is not the result of these problems, but the cause of them. In order to deal with these problems we need to handle substance abuse."

Most of South Africa's cannabis was grown in Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa, said the office's national co-ordinator Johan Kruger. The region was actually a net exporter of cannabis to other countries.

Bayever said an additional problem would be the extension of school holidays during the World Cup. In addition to being at risk for substance abuse, children may also be lured into prostitution.

"Our youth are going to be on holiday and they are going to be targeted to become prostitutes," said Bayever. - Sapa