Source: Reuter

S.African train drivers wreathed in marijuana fumes

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuter) South African train drivers
have appealed for protection from clouds of marijuana smoke wafting
in from passenger compartments and the country's commuter corporation
is promising to blow the problem away. ``The drivers have been
complaining for quite a while about dagga (marijuana) smoke, but the
problem seems to be getting a lot worse,'' said Bintu Petsana,
spokeswoman for the stateowned Metrorail Corp. She said the
corporation had started to install powerful extractor fans in trains
serving the east coast port of Durban after receiving complaints from
the Footplate Association, the drivers' union. ``The drivers complain
that when they are driving and they inhale the smoke, they get quite
uncomfortable,'' she said. In Cape Town, a spokeswoman conceded that
authorities would never beat the problem entirely. ``We're looking at
declaring the compartment next to the driver a nonsmoking area and
policing it strictly. It's either that or we also install fans,'' she
said. There is a growing movement in South Africa for the
decriminalization of marijuana, which is widely used in some African
ethnic groups. ^REUTER@