By Phathiezwe-Chief Zulu
MBABANE, Swaziland
Swaziland youth are leaving school to join the lucrative trade of growing the cannabis plant dagga, sometimes at the insistence of their own parents who struggle to put food on their table, a senior police official told Anadolu Agency.
The cultivation of dagga was now taking place even in communities that previously were not considered as drug-producing hotspots, mainly due to the tough economic conditions prevailing in the country.
Mshiyeni Maphalala, a senior police official involved in fighting drugs in the country, expressed concern over the rise in numbers of youth growing cannabis.
“The price is tempting many youths to venture into dagga cultivation. A kilogram [2.2 pounds] of dagga currently has a street value of 800 South African Rand [$52.61].
“That is why youth leave school to pursue the business because they don’t see the need, because to them dagga cultivation is lucrative industry,” Maphalala said.
“Parents have contributed in this mischief by teaching the children to grow the cannabis,” he added.
Young women involved
Nontando Mhlabane, a 29-year-old single mother of three children in Nkomazi, northern Swaziland, is among dozens of young women risking jail to cultivate the drug.
Mhlabane asked Anadolu Agency to identify her with a pseudonym in order to protect herself and her children from police.
“Jobs are scarce in this country. It’s been six years now [that I’ve been] hunting for a job but without success,” she said, adding: “I have no choice but to grow the cannabis, come what may.”
Women like her who expect to reap the harvest in the coming few weeks would earn around 20,000 rand ($1,311.27) from her one hectare piece of land on remote hills.
But the illegal trade is fraught with risks.
In 2014, police arrested Mhlabane when they raided her parental home and seized about ten sacks of dagga. But she was lucky to find a lawyer who secured her release after payment of fines.
“I was fined 10,000 rand [$655.63] plus 5,000 rand [$327.82] for lawyer services. But at the end of the day, I have to provide for my kids and my family, that’s why I have to soldier on despite [threat of] imminent arrest,” she explained.
The senior police officer expressed his frustration over what he called the ease with which offenders were being set free after payment of fines.
“These laws don’t have the necessary teeth to bite the offenders,” Maphalala said.
“Now we work towards invoking the Money Laundering Act which allows asset forfeiture for people who have bought assets using the money from selling or trafficking drugs.”
He explained that Swaziland was a signatory to the 1961 United Nations Conventions, which was amended in 1971 and 1988.
“The Pharmacy Act of 1983 deals with substance abuse [which] can convict a first [time] offender to 15 years or pay 15,000 rand [$983.45] fine or both…The act further states that a second [time] offender can be imprisoned 20 years or pay 20,000 rand [1,311.27] or both,” he said.
Poverty on the rise
According to recent figures by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Swaziland is ranked as a lower middle-income country. Yet income distribution within the country is extremely unequal. About 84 percent of the country’s poor people live in rural areas. A large proportion of rural households practice subsistence agriculture.
About 66 percent of the population remains unable to meet basic food needs, while 43 percent live in chronic poverty.
Also, households headed solely by women are growing in number, as men seek employment away from home and HIV/AIDS takes its toll. Women continue to struggle to feed their families and meet household needs single-handedly.
The IFAD noted that young people were increasingly vulnerable to poverty. About 47 percent of the population remains under the age of 15 and in the next decade or so young people without work is expected to increase unemployment numbers considerably.
Health concerns
The current global debate about legalizing cannabis has also spurred a debate in Swaziland, where several people ask would it not be better to make dagga legal and make it part of the country’s economy formally.
However, doctors such as Dr. Violet Mwanjali, a psychiatry and mental health specialist, strongly oppose any such suggestions, warning about the dire health and social consequences.
“In my view dagga has more disadvantages than advantages. It aggravates mental illnesses like depression and bipolar mania,” Mwanjali said.
“We can end up with a youth that doesn’t care about the future. Dagga can bring physical health hazards like lung cancer. Studies have confirmed that it can affect sperm production in males and ‘overin circle’ in females which can lead to infertility,” she added.
Majority of dagga users are males. According to the mental health specialist, almost 90 percent of people who come to see her at her facility are males who use cannabis, while she gets only five or seven female patients for such addictions per year.
Swazi Ministry of Health Director Vusi Magagula also said the government would oppose any efforts to legalize the drug.
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Source link : https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/swaziland-drug-trade-lures-youth-to-leave-schools-/593580
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Publish date : 2016-06-18 07:00:00
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