Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Drunkest driver in SA arrested
The man was allegedly 32 times over the legal alcohol limit. His blood had an alcohol content of 1,6g/100ml. The legal limit is 005g/100ml. He was driving a Mercedes-Benz Vito and was arrested near Queenstown in Eastern Cape at about 11pm on Wednesday.
Five boys as well as a woman who were also in the vehicle with 15 sheep, allegedly stolen from nearby farms, were also arrested.
Department of Transport spokesperson Logan Maistry said: "About 4000 drunk drivers have been arrested and 40percent of these were female."
He said about four million vehicles and drivers were stopped and checked.
"More than 30percent of fines issued relate to drivers not being in possession of driving licences or failing to carry licences. More than 1,5 million fines were issued for various traffic offences.
"More than 20000 unroadworthy vehicles, including several buses and taxis, were discontinued from use. Since the 2010 World Cup, an average of 2000 motorists have been arrested every month for driving while under the influence of liquor," Maistry said.
lTransport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele conveyed his condolences to the families of 16 people killed in a road crash involving a minibus and midi-bus on the N2 near Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal.
Ndebele called on more South Africans to enlist as Voluntary Traffic Observers to win the battle against road deaths.
- Sowetan
Five boys as well as a woman who were also in the vehicle with 15 sheep, allegedly stolen from nearby farms, were also arrested.
Department of Transport spokesperson Logan Maistry said: "About 4000 drunk drivers have been arrested and 40percent of these were female."
He said about four million vehicles and drivers were stopped and checked.
"More than 30percent of fines issued relate to drivers not being in possession of driving licences or failing to carry licences. More than 1,5 million fines were issued for various traffic offences.
"More than 20000 unroadworthy vehicles, including several buses and taxis, were discontinued from use. Since the 2010 World Cup, an average of 2000 motorists have been arrested every month for driving while under the influence of liquor," Maistry said.
lTransport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele conveyed his condolences to the families of 16 people killed in a road crash involving a minibus and midi-bus on the N2 near Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal.
Ndebele called on more South Africans to enlist as Voluntary Traffic Observers to win the battle against road deaths.
- Sowetan
Thursday, December 23, 2010
1,500 drunk drivers arrested
About 1 500 drunk drivers have been arrested country-wide since the beginning of December, the national transport department said on Thursday.
"From 1 to 21 December 1.1 million vehicles and drivers were checked, [and] 1,500 drunk drivers arrested with 40% of these being female," [Pappa wag nie vir julle dronkgat vrouens nie] department spokesperson Logan Maistry said in a statement.
Since October 1 more than 1.5 million fines had been issued for various traffic offences.
About a third of them related to drivers not carrying their driving licences.
More than 20,00 unroadworthy vehicles, including several buses and taxis, were taken off the road over the same period and more than 4,000 drunk drivers arrested.
Over 860 people had died in road accidents since the start of the festive season.
- SAPA
"From 1 to 21 December 1.1 million vehicles and drivers were checked, [and] 1,500 drunk drivers arrested with 40% of these being female," [Pappa wag nie vir julle dronkgat vrouens nie] department spokesperson Logan Maistry said in a statement.
Since October 1 more than 1.5 million fines had been issued for various traffic offences.
About a third of them related to drivers not carrying their driving licences.
More than 20,00 unroadworthy vehicles, including several buses and taxis, were taken off the road over the same period and more than 4,000 drunk drivers arrested.
Over 860 people had died in road accidents since the start of the festive season.
- SAPA
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Pappa wag vir julle mansmense dronkgatte
‘Rape in jail’ ad too shocking for some
The Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative has slammed an advertising campaign seeking to deter drunken-driving by warning male drivers they face the prospect of being raped in prison if arrested.
“What is distressing is the near acceptance of sexual violence in prison and the fact that men are raped in prison. It is (now being) used to keep the public in fear of drinking and driving,” said Lukas Muntingh, project co-ordinator of the initiative.
He said if the ad had been targeted at women, it would have led to an “outcry”.
“But male rape for most people is an uncomfortable topic and one way of dealing with it is through humour,” said Muntingh, who added that the subtext of the ad was that “prisons were unsafe”.
“It is about exploiting sexual violence,” he said.
But the controversial ad, the brainchild of Brandhouse Beverages, has been endorsed by the Road Traffic Management Organisation and the National Transport Department, among others.
It is part of the company’s Drive Dry campaign... - IOL
Prison staff ‘biggest killers’
Prison officials are the biggest killers of prisoners, according to a Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services report by Inspecting Judge Deon van Zyl.
Judge Van Zyl said the incidence of inmate murder by prison officials was even more frequent than murders committed by other inmates and raised “serious concerns”.
“Officials appear to have been involved in acts of violence against inmates who are alleged to have assaulted an official or other inmates . These actions often constitute a form of revenge in response to an attack on an official,” he said, citing ineffective disciplinary measures at the disposal of correctional officials.
- IOL
The Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative has slammed an advertising campaign seeking to deter drunken-driving by warning male drivers they face the prospect of being raped in prison if arrested.
“What is distressing is the near acceptance of sexual violence in prison and the fact that men are raped in prison. It is (now being) used to keep the public in fear of drinking and driving,” said Lukas Muntingh, project co-ordinator of the initiative.
He said if the ad had been targeted at women, it would have led to an “outcry”.
“But male rape for most people is an uncomfortable topic and one way of dealing with it is through humour,” said Muntingh, who added that the subtext of the ad was that “prisons were unsafe”.
“It is about exploiting sexual violence,” he said.
But the controversial ad, the brainchild of Brandhouse Beverages, has been endorsed by the Road Traffic Management Organisation and the National Transport Department, among others.
It is part of the company’s Drive Dry campaign... - IOL
Prison staff ‘biggest killers’
Prison officials are the biggest killers of prisoners, according to a Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services report by Inspecting Judge Deon van Zyl.
Judge Van Zyl said the incidence of inmate murder by prison officials was even more frequent than murders committed by other inmates and raised “serious concerns”.
“Officials appear to have been involved in acts of violence against inmates who are alleged to have assaulted an official or other inmates . These actions often constitute a form of revenge in response to an attack on an official,” he said, citing ineffective disciplinary measures at the disposal of correctional officials.
- IOL
80% of WC inmates awaiting trial
About three out of four inmates at critically overcrowded prisons in the Western Cape are awaiting trial.
This indicates that far too many people are being arrested on “insufficiently justifiable grounds”, says judicial inspector of correctional services Judge Deon van Zyl in his annual report .
Of 19 critically overcrowded prisons in South Africa, five are in the Western Cape.
Critically overcrowded prisons are classified as those with an occupancy of more than 200 percent...
- IOL
Monday, December 13, 2010
THC Reduces Aggressive Behavior In Schizophrenics: Study
The administration of oral synthetic THC is associated with improved symptoms of psychosis in patients with refractory schizophrenia, according to the findings of four case reports published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Investigators at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York, the Columbia University Medical Center, and the New York University School of Medicine assessed the efficacy of oral THC (Dronabinol) on eight patients with refractory psychosis, reports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The subjects in the trial had a history of symptomatic improvement when using cannabis and had been unresponsive to conventional medical treatments.
Researchers reported significant improvement in four of the eight patients after oral THC treatment. In particular, cannabinoid administration resulted in a significant reduction in subjects' aggressive tendencies, authors reported.
No patients in the study experienced any significant side effects from THC.
"It appears that a predisposed subset of patients with schizophrenia may actually improve with cannabinoid stimulation," investigators concluded.
The team had previously reported positive results with oral cannabinoid therapy in four of six patients with chronic refractory schizophrenia.
In March, investigators at Edmundston Regional Hospital in New Brunswick, Canada reported that male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia obtained subjective benefits from inhaling cannabis.
Survey data published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing in 2008 also reported that schizophrenic patients obtained subjective relief from cannabis, finding that subjects consumed marijuana to reduce anxiety, mitigate traumatic childhood memories, enhance cognition, and "improve their mental state."
- TOT
Investigators at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York, the Columbia University Medical Center, and the New York University School of Medicine assessed the efficacy of oral THC (Dronabinol) on eight patients with refractory psychosis, reports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The subjects in the trial had a history of symptomatic improvement when using cannabis and had been unresponsive to conventional medical treatments.
Researchers reported significant improvement in four of the eight patients after oral THC treatment. In particular, cannabinoid administration resulted in a significant reduction in subjects' aggressive tendencies, authors reported.
No patients in the study experienced any significant side effects from THC.
"It appears that a predisposed subset of patients with schizophrenia may actually improve with cannabinoid stimulation," investigators concluded.
The team had previously reported positive results with oral cannabinoid therapy in four of six patients with chronic refractory schizophrenia.
In March, investigators at Edmundston Regional Hospital in New Brunswick, Canada reported that male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia obtained subjective benefits from inhaling cannabis.
Survey data published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing in 2008 also reported that schizophrenic patients obtained subjective relief from cannabis, finding that subjects consumed marijuana to reduce anxiety, mitigate traumatic childhood memories, enhance cognition, and "improve their mental state."
- TOT
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Portugal's Drug Experience: New Study Confirms Decriminalization Was a Success
From the perspective of drug warriors, the criminal laws against drug possession are all that protect Americans from a deluge of drugs, an orgy of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine use that would kill children, destroy productivity and basically leave America a smoking hulk of wasteland populated by brain-dead zombies.
For example, one opponent of marijuana decriminalization wrote in a 2009 forum in the New York Times that the policy would lead to "hundreds of billions of dollars in new medical-care costs, traffic and other accident costs, reduced worker productivity and lower educational achievements." (More on Time.com: Is Drug Use Really on the Rise?)
But new research on Portugal's drug policy suggests that this isn't necessarily so. Portugal decriminalized possession of all drugs in 2001. The outcome, after nearly a decade, according to a study published in the November issue of the British Journal of Criminology: less teen drug use, fewer HIV infections, fewer AIDS cases and more drugs seized by law enforcement. Adult drug use rates did slightly increase — but this increase was not greater than that seen in nearby countries that did not change their drug policies. The use of drugs by injection declined.
Of course, there's no way of knowing which, if any, of these changes were caused by the change in policy — without a control group, this kind of research cannot determine cause and and effect. But Portugal started with one of the lowest rates of drug use in Europe — far lower than American rates — and remains below the EU average. For example, 19% of 15-to-16-year-olds in Europe in general have tried marijuana at least once, compared with 13% of Portuguese people that age. The figure for U.S. high school sophomores is 32%. (Related Links: Why Drinking Like a Guy is Worse for Women)
"The most important direct effect was a reduction in the use of criminal justice resources targeted at vulnerable drug users," says Alex Stevens, professor of criminal justice at the U.K.'s University of Kent, who co-authored the study. "Before, a large number of people were being arrested and punished for drug use alone. They saved themselves a lot of money and stopped inflicting so much harm on people through the criminal justice system. There were other trends since drugs were decriminalized in 2001, but they are less easy to attribute directly to decriminalization."
Under Portugal's decriminalization policy, users are not arrested but referred by the police to a "dissuasion" commission. The commission is made up of three people, typically an attorney, a social worker and a medical professional. It determines whether the person is addicted — if so, they can be referred to treatment or given specific penalties like being banned from a particular neighborhood or losing a driver's license. Treatment is not forced, however, and those who are not addicted are often not sanctioned in any way. Only about 5% to 6% of users are brought before such commissions a second time in the same year. (More on Time.com: Addiction Files: Recovering From Drug Addiction, Without Abstinence)
Stevens says the positive changes in HIV/AIDS rates and a decline in opioid-related deaths are probably more linked with an expansion of treatment than with decriminalization alone. The number of users in treatment increased by 41% — going from 23,654 to 38,532 between 1998 and 2008. "Releasing funds from [enforcement] allows you to spend more on treatment," says Stevens.
The changes in teen drug use were complex: throughout Europe, teen drug use rose sharply during the period in which Portugal decriminalized and then fell — the same trend was seen in Portugal but the fall was steeper.
Mark Kleiman, director of the drug policy analysis program at UCLA and author of When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, is skeptical that Portugal's policy holds any lessons for the U.S. other than that the "U.S. and UN look silly for getting hysterical," about Portugal's move. "The bottom line [is that] no clear disaster resulted from decriminalization." (More on Time.com: Addiction Files: Recovering From Drug Addiction, Without Abstinence)
Stevens concurs. "The main claim we make is that decriminalization did not lead to the kinds of disaster that were anticipated by opponents," he says.
In the debate over California's marijuana legalization initiative, little attention was paid to the fact that Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill decriminalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana — a relaxation of state drug law that would have been much more controversial had the state not faced the possibility that voters would support full legalization of sales as well as possession. Eleven other states have also decriminalized — though this does not always prevent the arrest of users for possession. (More on Time.com: Is Marijuana Addictive? It Depends How You Define Addiction)
With 1.5 million Americans being arrested each year for simple drug possession — 40% of them for marijuana — Portugal's experience raises the question of whether arresting users is a cost-effective use of taxpayer money. Billions of dollars are spent each year on enforcement of drug possession laws and that enforcement is notoriously racially biased — if ceasing to arrest users for possession has essentially no effect, is this really a good way to spend scarce money?
Read more: TIME
For example, one opponent of marijuana decriminalization wrote in a 2009 forum in the New York Times that the policy would lead to "hundreds of billions of dollars in new medical-care costs, traffic and other accident costs, reduced worker productivity and lower educational achievements." (More on Time.com: Is Drug Use Really on the Rise?)
But new research on Portugal's drug policy suggests that this isn't necessarily so. Portugal decriminalized possession of all drugs in 2001. The outcome, after nearly a decade, according to a study published in the November issue of the British Journal of Criminology: less teen drug use, fewer HIV infections, fewer AIDS cases and more drugs seized by law enforcement. Adult drug use rates did slightly increase — but this increase was not greater than that seen in nearby countries that did not change their drug policies. The use of drugs by injection declined.
Of course, there's no way of knowing which, if any, of these changes were caused by the change in policy — without a control group, this kind of research cannot determine cause and and effect. But Portugal started with one of the lowest rates of drug use in Europe — far lower than American rates — and remains below the EU average. For example, 19% of 15-to-16-year-olds in Europe in general have tried marijuana at least once, compared with 13% of Portuguese people that age. The figure for U.S. high school sophomores is 32%. (Related Links: Why Drinking Like a Guy is Worse for Women)
"The most important direct effect was a reduction in the use of criminal justice resources targeted at vulnerable drug users," says Alex Stevens, professor of criminal justice at the U.K.'s University of Kent, who co-authored the study. "Before, a large number of people were being arrested and punished for drug use alone. They saved themselves a lot of money and stopped inflicting so much harm on people through the criminal justice system. There were other trends since drugs were decriminalized in 2001, but they are less easy to attribute directly to decriminalization."
Under Portugal's decriminalization policy, users are not arrested but referred by the police to a "dissuasion" commission. The commission is made up of three people, typically an attorney, a social worker and a medical professional. It determines whether the person is addicted — if so, they can be referred to treatment or given specific penalties like being banned from a particular neighborhood or losing a driver's license. Treatment is not forced, however, and those who are not addicted are often not sanctioned in any way. Only about 5% to 6% of users are brought before such commissions a second time in the same year. (More on Time.com: Addiction Files: Recovering From Drug Addiction, Without Abstinence)
Stevens says the positive changes in HIV/AIDS rates and a decline in opioid-related deaths are probably more linked with an expansion of treatment than with decriminalization alone. The number of users in treatment increased by 41% — going from 23,654 to 38,532 between 1998 and 2008. "Releasing funds from [enforcement] allows you to spend more on treatment," says Stevens.
The changes in teen drug use were complex: throughout Europe, teen drug use rose sharply during the period in which Portugal decriminalized and then fell — the same trend was seen in Portugal but the fall was steeper.
Mark Kleiman, director of the drug policy analysis program at UCLA and author of When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, is skeptical that Portugal's policy holds any lessons for the U.S. other than that the "U.S. and UN look silly for getting hysterical," about Portugal's move. "The bottom line [is that] no clear disaster resulted from decriminalization." (More on Time.com: Addiction Files: Recovering From Drug Addiction, Without Abstinence)
Stevens concurs. "The main claim we make is that decriminalization did not lead to the kinds of disaster that were anticipated by opponents," he says.
In the debate over California's marijuana legalization initiative, little attention was paid to the fact that Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill decriminalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana — a relaxation of state drug law that would have been much more controversial had the state not faced the possibility that voters would support full legalization of sales as well as possession. Eleven other states have also decriminalized — though this does not always prevent the arrest of users for possession. (More on Time.com: Is Marijuana Addictive? It Depends How You Define Addiction)
With 1.5 million Americans being arrested each year for simple drug possession — 40% of them for marijuana — Portugal's experience raises the question of whether arresting users is a cost-effective use of taxpayer money. Billions of dollars are spent each year on enforcement of drug possession laws and that enforcement is notoriously racially biased — if ceasing to arrest users for possession has essentially no effect, is this really a good way to spend scarce money?
Read more: TIME
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Legalise dagga – dr Ben Dlamini
MBABANE – The contentious issue of the legalisation of dagga faces its first real test as a case seeking it to be legalised and be traded has been taken to the High Court.
Former Director of the Swaziland Examinations Council Dr Ben Dlamini wants the High Court to help him get an order that will make government not only legalise cannabis but also allow him to operate a cannabis processing factory in the country.
He wants to set up a national cannabis processing and marketing company, with all growers in the country supplying his factory. He says his factory will then solicit orders from local and international pharmacies. He also states that he would involve international research institutions to conduct research on processed and raw cannabis. Dagga is also referred to as cannabis.
Dlamini has cited as respondents, the Attorney General (AG), Minister of Health, Commissioners of Police and that of Correctional Services, as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions. He has also requested that they add the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry. The respondents are yet to file their responding papers.
Dlamini wants the AG to amend all laws that criminalise cannabis, but only render illegal the extracts of the plant that contains tetrahydrocarbinol, which is the active ingredient that makes a user high.
Dlamini, who holds a Doctorate in Education, Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Chemistry, argues that cannabis is not a drug and is not addictive. He also claims it is not intoxicating nor is it poisonous. He referred to a number of researches done in the United States of America and in Asia. "This necessitated experiments that were conducted with subjects who smoked cannabis for a given time under controlled conditions, A cannabis smoker will not be bothered, while a cigarette smoker will not allow that to happen," reads his affidavit.
He also claims that cannabis influences a person to sleep, but is never intoxicated and ‘unable to know what he is doing.’ He further argues that cannabis is safer than alcohol and tobacco. Dlamini alleges that the substance has been used in Africa and Asia since time immemorial. "It is smoked, it is eaten and it is used as an antidote for cases of poisoning. The question of the risk element attached to the use of cannabis will continue to be a matter for the experts, but irrespective of the answer, there exists no just reason to punish cannabis users or those who grow it," he states in his affidavit.
Dlamini is challenging Section 151 (1) of the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Act of 1922. The section stipulates that, "In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, habit forming drug or drugs means and includes the following as herein defined – cannabis, dagga, instangu, Indian hemp, under whatever name it may be described, known, sold, supplied or otherwise referred to or dealt with, whether the whole or any portion of the plant and all extracts, tinctures or preparations or admixtures thereon."
He argues that the statement ‘all extracts, tinctures or preparations or admixtures,’ does not apply to what is happening in the country.
"This is what is done to cannabis in Asia and certainly when the law is amended, these extracts should be proscribed such concentrating THC to form Hashish," read his papers.
He has given the respondents until December 17, 2010 to file responding papers. The matter is still pending before the High Court.
...wants 10-year exclusive licence
MBABANE – Dr Ben Dlamini has called upon the Minister for Commerce, Industry and Trade to grant him a 10-year exclusive licence to grow dagga.
This is one of the orders he is seeking from the High Court, where he wants to be allowed to establish a factory processing and selling dagga. He argues that dagga has not only been wrongly defined as a drug and also wrongly proscribed so under legislation regulations.
‘No one has died of dagga in 5 000yrs’
MBABANE –Dr Ben Dlamini has alleged that in 5 000 years, no one has died of cannabis anywh-ere in the world.
He makes this allegation in a section of his court papers where he argues that cannabis is not a drug and neither is it an intoxicant.
"According to the Oxford pocket dictionary, to intoxicate is to make drunk, excite, elate, beyond self control. Unlike alcohol, cannabis users do not lose self control, massive amounts just send them to sleep. Intoxicants are potentially toxic, that is poisonous, with a certain overodse level often dependent on the individual. There has never been a single death directly linked to cannabis use in 5 000 years of history with hundreds of millions of users in the world. There is no toxi amount of cannabis. No animal has died of an overdose of cannabis," he alleges.
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