DRUG DEALERS TARGET PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KWAZULU-NATAL

Drug dealers are now targeting KwaZulu-Natal primary school children,
a Durban police spokesperson said on Thursday.

"The selling of drugs at schools is a big concern, but what is even a
bigger concern is that drug pushers are now targeting primary school
pupils," said Superintendent Willie Louw, the commander of Operation
West, a team that investigates West African drug syndicates.

He said police have raided several schools in the past and conducted
searches, but it is difficult to arrest any pupils with drugs in their
possession.

The raids, Louw added, are done at the request of school
principals.

He said the mainly Nigerian drug lords recruit runners to infiltrate
the schools.

"It's not only in Durban but in the whole of the province. There isn't
a school they do not target."

Provincial education department spokesperson Mandla Msibi said while
there are certain schools where drugs are an issue, especially those
in urban areas, on the whole there is no big problem of which the
department is aware.

He said the department has recently compiled a list of schools where
drugs, among other things such as security and teaching standards, are
a problem and need to be addressed.

Louw said teachers and especially parents need to be alerted to the
problem.

"It all starts at home. Parents need to give love and discipline at
home."

It is not only at schools that pushers are selling drugs to pupils,
but after hours and at parties, he said.

Louw cited an example of a nine-year-old Durban girl who is receiving
treatment for a heroin problem.

He said that during a recent raid they found girls, as young as 12,
involved in sex orgies with older men because they needed to feed
their drug habits.

School children are using all types of drugs, but Ecstasy is probably
the biggest seller.

"Drug lords have reduced the price of drugs to make them more
affordable to pupils," he said.

Crack cocaine sells for between R80 and R100, Mandrax from R30 to R100
and Ecstasy from R50 to R100, "which is very affordable for
schoolchildren".

Dr A Jeewa, director of the Minds Alive Alcohol and Drug
Rehabilitation Centre in Westville, said there has been a definite
increase in the number of schoolchildren using drugs.

In the past two months he has treated four 14-year-old boys who were
addicted to dagga, Rohypnol and cocaine.

"It's a fashionable thing and peer pressure. A child will start using
drugs to fit in," he said.

Jeewa, who conducts drug awareness programmes at schools nationwide,
believes random testing is the only way to beat the problem.

Last year he was approached by a Durban private school that had a
serious drug problem and asked for his help. He did tests at the
school twice and since then the problem has decreased
substantially.

Jeewa said he has advised other schools to introduce random testing,
but this has not yet happened.

"Generally, there's an apathy on the part of principals. They are
afraid of what the parents will do."

A 15-year-old pupil undergoing treatment at a Durban rehabilitation
centre said he was introduced to dagga and Rohypnol by friends at school.

"Most pupils at my school are using drugs," said the
teenager.

He said he started using drugs about 18 months ago because everyone
was doing it and he wanted to fit in.

The boy said he used drugs during and after school hours.