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DUT UFC to protest against punitive measures to control problematic drug use

DUT UFC to protest against punitive measures to control problematic drug use

Commemorating Youth Month and bringing awareness to the challenges facing the youth of South Africa, the Durban University of Technology’s Urban Futures Centre (UFC@DUT), will on Monday 26 June 2017, hold a peaceful protest march and advocacy event (Support Don’t Punish) that is against the expensive and counter-productive ‘war on drugs’.

The Support Don’t Punish campaign calls on governments for greater investment in cost-effective harm reduction responses and solutions. The campaign challenges traditional punitive approaches that drug users face and appeals for the decriminalisation of people who use drugs, as well as the removal of other laws that impede public health services. Support Don’t Punish promotes a harm reduction approach, which is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This approach offers humane and sustainable long-term solutions to problematic drug use. Current policies and interventions directed at people who use drugs in Durban and South Africa do not work, with evidence pointing to a steady increase in drug use and supply, as well as increasing levels of HIV and Hepatitis C infections among drug users.

2017 will not be the first time that the UFC at DUT is part of the Support Don’t Punish campaign, and in 2016 a large public event was held at the DUT City Campus. Since mid-2014, the UFC has also embarked on various research and advocacy initiatives, including setting up a research project called ‘Pathways into and out of street level drug use’, and establishing a multi-stakeholder KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Harm Reduction Advocacy Group. As part of their broader research and advocacy initiatives, the UFC has also partnered with the TB/HIV Care Association (THCA) to undertake an Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) demonstration project. This is the first low-threshold project of its kind in South Africa. The OST demonstration project aims to show that OST can be delivered in the South African setting, as well as provide insight into potential challenges and economic implications. In May this year, the first cohorts of beneficiaries were initiated on methadone. In the coming months, 50 low-grade heroin (whoonga) users will join the project. The 15 users who are currently on the programme are already experiencing a number of positive changes in their quality of life; through reconnecting with family and friends, setting personal life goals, and through obtaining part-time employment.

Professor Monique Marks, Head: Urban Futures Centre at DUT said it was time for us to stop moralising and stigmatising and for us to support and not punish. “I have learned through interacting with the drug use community that criminalisation and imprisonment intensify problems and in no way assists in healing either individuals or community. I have seen first-hand that providing those with a drug use disorder with the appropriate medical services and with means to connect with people who offer respect and compassion goes a very long way in improving the quality of life of people who use drugs, their families and their communities,” said Prof Marks.

On 26th June 2017, Durban will once again take the lead in South Africa in the struggle for improved drug policies with the UFC@DUT hosting the 2017 Support Don’t Punish protest and advocacy event.
Details of the event:

Date: Monday 26 June 2017
Time: 10H00am to 14H00 pm
Venue: March starts at Bulwer Park and ends at the THCA Drop-In-Centre (4 Wadley Road, (Umbilo)

Pictured: A picture from the 2016 Support Don’t Punish Campaign and event that was held at City Campus.

Noxolo Memela

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