Chairperson, hon members, I rise in support of this Bill. And let me commence by commending the Minister for introducing this Bill. It is one of the key legislative measures that he has introduced, which are all significant for social transformation.
The World Drug Report 2006, states that the problem of illicit drug use worldwide has been contained at 5%. The problem drug-users, namely the substance dependants, make up 0,6%. The latter, according to the Central Drug Authority, suffer from a syndrome at the centre of which is impaired control or loss of control over a behaviour which leads to significant harm.
Because harm occurs, plans have to be devised to limit or eradicate the harm. This, in practical terms, calls for a supply, demand and harm reduction strategy that lies at the heart of the struggle against drug and alcohol use, abuse and dependence, hence the introduction of this Bill.
The ANC at its Polokwane Conference in December last year, as the Minister indicated, adopted a resolution calling for a co-ordinated, national anti- drug campaign to fight substance abuse.
Cannabis, which is commonly known as dagga in this country, used alone or in combination with other drugs, is the second most common drug of choice after alcohol and the most commonly used illicit drug in South Africa. The UN Office on Drug Control estimates the total number of users of cannabis in South Africa in all its forms at 8,4%. This is more than twice the 4% accepted as the global norm and much higher than previous reports had indicated.
Use of opiates, mainly heroin, is approximately 0,3% compared with 0,4% globally. Heroin use, however, we are informed, is rising in South Africa with 7% of those undergoing treatment reporting heroin as their primary drug of choice in 2005 as against 1% in 1996.
South Africa has a cocaine user population of about 0,8% compared to the global usage estimated at 0,3%. This indicates a sharp rise in cocaine as a primary drug of choice. Demand increased from 1,5% in 1996 to 8,5% in 2005.
South African users of amphetamines and ecstasy combined, as the CDA's report indicates, constitute 0,8%, with methamphetamine or tik being the primary drug of choice for many patients. This is approximately 98% in the Cape Town area in particular while methcathinone or cat, is increasingly being used in the Gauteng area as the equivalent of tik.
Treatment for mandrax dependence has declined in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Gauteng but has increased by 81% in Durban, and there are indications of increased usage of nyaope, which is a mixture of dagga and heroin, in Tshwane, as the report states. So more work for the MPs will come from Tshwane.
And, finally, over-the-counter or prescription medications have become the primary drug of choice of between 25% and 61% of all patients admitted for treatment at treatment centres.
The problem of substance abuse is increasingly manifesting itself in schools, sports and cultural sectors. It is there in the workplace. And, sadly, some of our highly skilled professionals such as lawyers, accountants and even members of the medical or health professions are reported to have fallen victim to the problem.
Our portfolio committee, last year, in anticipation of this Bill, visited three of the provinces which are affected the most. We started with a visit to the Sultan Bahu Community-based Treatment Centre in Mitchells Plain in the Western Cape, then went to Gauteng and ended with a visit to the often- talked-about Noupoort Christian Care Centre in the Northern Cape.
The experiences we had in talking to counsellors at the various treatment centres, government officials and, more importantly, the many young people undergoing treatment, were overwhelming. It is clear to us that success in the fight against substance abuse will only be realised through the collective effort of all concerned.
All government departments, particularly those directly involved - we have 18 government departments and agencies that are part of the Central Drug Authority - the private sector and civil society, the family, the community and, in particular, young people generally, because they are most at risk, must all be involved.
The committee, in considering the Bill, came to the conclusion that it was lacking in a number of fundamental respects and hence made substantial changes to it.
Firstly, some of the key concepts used in the Bill were either not defined or explained in the body of the legislation and the committee felt it was critical to ensure that there was common understanding of what they meant, especially given the divergent policy perspectives within this sector.
The Minister, for example, alluded earlier to certain harm reduction methods which this country has not yet found acceptable such as the needle exchange programme. In this regard, the committee also decided that terms such as "addict" should be avoided to remove labelling and stigmatisation, which the committee found unhelpful in addressing the problem.
The Bill introduces concepts such as "community-based services", which are well-known in practice but are not provided for in the current legislation. It, however, said very little as to what these services entailed and the details of the regulatory framework it sought to impose on them. Here the committee called for a complete rewrite of chapters, such as Chapter 4, which has become the new Chapter 5 in the Bill, dealing with the issue of community-based services.
The committee spent some time amending Chapter 2 of the Bill, which deals with the fundamental question of combating substance abuse, which it felt was not articulate enough on the subject.
The difficulty here is that whereas the Central Drug Authority and the National Drug Master Plan, NDMP, were introduced into the current legislation in 1999 to fill the integration and co-ordination void, the fundamental point was missed, both in the current legislation and in the Bill, namely that it is, first and foremost, the responsibility of all Ministers whose departments are represented on the CDA, individually and collectively, and in a complementary and co-ordinated manner, to combat substance abuse. [Time expired.] Thank you. The ANC supports this Bill. [Applause.]