Saturday, 5 March 2011
Whoonga Dealers Are Peddling Poison
Those peddling Whoonga, the deadly drug sweeping through KwaZulu-Natal townships, should face murder charges as they are deliberately poisoning people.
This is according to Dr Thavendran Govender, who tested samples of Whoonga and found that it was based on rat poison and heroin - not antiretroviral medication.
According to Dr Govender, it's clever mix that catches the addict in a vicious cycle that keeps them coming back for more. The heroin or morphine initially masks the effects of the strychnine, which cause terrible muscle spasms.
"The patient now has this excruciating body pain and the only way to relieve this body pain is to smoke more Whoonga because they now want to take in the heroin and the morphine to mask the strychnine," says Dr Govender.
Anton, a former user and dealer, describes the withdrawal: "You will feel like you are sick, you can't even walk from here to market. Next week, you can't even eat, you can't even smoke, even a cigarette. You can't drink the water you can't eat - you can't do nothing. You can't even sleep in the night. You don't smoke - you look like you're crying,."
Despite popular belief, there were only trace amounts of ARVs in one of the sample.
"It's a matter of what's available to dilute the sample and it also it could even be a marketing ploy, that some dealers are saying they have a better product than others," says Govender.
Whoonga is sold as a powder that is usually mixed with marijuana and smoked.
According to Carol du Toit of the SA National Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Sanca), a few years ago Whoonga was a mixture between marijuana and Stocrin.
"However we have noticed that with our admissions of Whoonga patients, both at outpatient and inpatient level, that the mixture now seems to have progressed more to having a heroin content," says Du Toit.
Nduduzo started smoking Whoonga four years ago: "Another friend of mine was smoking it. So, just get into it and I just smoked it like that. "
"It's breaking up families. I want to stop," he says, but despite promising to stop this month, he simply doesn't seem to be able to kick the habit.
In Durban, the drug is easily available in the city and in townships, sometimes for merely R20 for a twist of the powder that will last an addict for a day.
As Whoonga spreads through the townships of KwaZulu Natal, so too has the black market trade in pharmaceutical drugs increased.
Like Whoonga, Stocrin is also easily available on the black market - particularly outside Durban's hospitals where Health-e bought 24 tablets for R300.
Du Toit believes that not enough is being done to stop Whoonga: "If we have a properly orchestrated approach I have no doubt that we can make a dent in this problem but at the moment the whole approach is quite fragmented."
@'allAfrica'
This is according to Dr Thavendran Govender, who tested samples of Whoonga and found that it was based on rat poison and heroin - not antiretroviral medication.
While it is widely believed that Whoonga is based on the ARV called Stocrin, Dr Govender from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Chemistry department found that it was a mix of heroin, morphine and strychnine, which is used to kill rats.
"The patient now has this excruciating body pain and the only way to relieve this body pain is to smoke more Whoonga because they now want to take in the heroin and the morphine to mask the strychnine," says Dr Govender.
"They are peddling a poison, because strychnine is a known poison. Therefore my belief is that they should not be tried for drug peddling but for attempted murder or even murder itself, because there are people dying from this and the dealers know they are putting poison into it."
Despite popular belief, there were only trace amounts of ARVs in one of the sample.
"It's a matter of what's available to dilute the sample and it also it could even be a marketing ploy, that some dealers are saying they have a better product than others," says Govender.
"But Stocrin has no proven psycho-active effects and its molecular weight is also so heavy, that it doesn't vaporise easily making it almost impossible to smoke."
According to Carol du Toit of the SA National Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Sanca), a few years ago Whoonga was a mixture between marijuana and Stocrin.
"However we have noticed that with our admissions of Whoonga patients, both at outpatient and inpatient level, that the mixture now seems to have progressed more to having a heroin content," says Du Toit.
Agrinet Khuzwayo's only son, Nduduzo, is a Whoonga addict. "He is very angry. He doesn't want to talk to us. He is doing a lot of funny things. He is selling his clothes. He is stealing at home, everything, even our clothes, my dishes," says Agrinet.
"It's breaking up families. I want to stop," he says, but despite promising to stop this month, he simply doesn't seem to be able to kick the habit.
In Durban, the drug is easily available in the city and in townships, sometimes for merely R20 for a twist of the powder that will last an addict for a day.
As Whoonga spreads through the townships of KwaZulu Natal, so too has the black market trade in pharmaceutical drugs increased.
Although there' s no evidence that antiretroviral drugs such as Stocrin create a high, criminals are robbing AIDS patients of life-saving drugs for the manufacture Whoonga.
Nancy Fias, the Community Outreach Facilitator st St Mary's Hospital in Marianhill, says a number of their patients have been robbed of their ARVs while others are selling their medication to the dealers.Like Whoonga, Stocrin is also easily available on the black market - particularly outside Durban's hospitals where Health-e bought 24 tablets for R300.
Du Toit believes that not enough is being done to stop Whoonga: "If we have a properly orchestrated approach I have no doubt that we can make a dent in this problem but at the moment the whole approach is quite fragmented."
@'allAfrica'
Friday, 4 March 2011
Libya revolt: Rebels say no talks unless Gaddafi goes
Rebels in eastern Libya have said they will not negotiate unless Col Muammar Gaddafi quits and goes into exile.
The National Libyan Council in the city of Benghazi also called for foreign intervention to stop government air strikes on the rebels.The International Criminal Court said it would investigate Col Gaddafi and his sons for crimes against humanity.
There have been calls in Col Gaddafi's stronghold, Tripoli, for protests against his rule after Friday prayers.
In Benghazi, the opposition National Libyan Council said there was no room for talks, following reports that Col Gaddafi had ordered an intelligence chief to negotiate with the rebels.
'Stalemate' The council is led by former Libyan Interior Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who defected last month.
"If there is any negotiation it will be on one single thing - how Gaddafi is going to leave the country or step down so we can save lives. There is nothing else to negotiate," Ahmed Jabreel, a spokesman for Mr Abdel-Jalil, told Reuters news agency.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Benghazi says it appears that neither side has the capacity to move large amounts of manpower or firepower over vast expanses of desert.He says that raises the grim prospect of a military stalemate and a political vacuum after the revolt that began in the east of the country in mid-February.
Meaningful talks would be difficult, says our correspondent, because Col Gaddafi's only aim is to remain in power and the rebels' goal is to end his 41 years of rule.
Terror in Tripoli At the defiant ruler's stronghold in the capital Tripoli, some residents have called for demonstrations on Friday after weekly Muslim prayers.
Protests last weekend after Friday prayers in several districts of the city were fired on by Gaddafi supporters, witnesses of the shootings have said.
Col Gaddafi's security forces have reportedly carried out a wave of arrests, killings and disappearances in the city in recent days in order to quell the opposition.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama repeatedly called on Col Gaddafi to quit during a White House news conference on Thursday."Going forward, we will continue to send a clear message: the violence must stop," he said. "Muammar Gaddafi has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave."
Some 200,000 migrant workers have now fled Libya, into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger, says the International Organization for Migration.
The rebels, a mixture of citizen militias and army defectors, have been securing the key port of Brega, home to the country's second largest oil facility.
The government launched a new air strike on Thursday at Brega, but missed its oil refinery target and no casualties were reported.
'More mercenaries'
Amid reports that Col Gaddafi has recruited up to 300 more mercenaries from Mali, opposition forces in Brega have been braced for any fresh ground attacks
Gaddafi loyalists have withdrawn west to another oil port, Ras Lanouf, following their defeat in a battle on Wednesday.The rebels, who are armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, have held funerals for some of the 14 fighters killed in that clash.
The major western rebel-held cities of Zawiya and Misrata have also repelled attacks by Gaddafi loyalists.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said Col Gaddafi and his inner circle were under its spotlight.
The court has identified at least nine incidents that could constitute crimes against humanity, including the alleged killing of 257 people in Benghazi last month.
"During the coming weeks, the office will investigate who are the most responsible for the most serious incidents, for the most serious crimes committed in Libya," he said.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told the BBC the case was "close to a joke", built purely on media reports.
@'BBC'
♪♫ Swans - Sex/God/Sex (Vera 23-11-2010)
Hilarious quote from an interview w/ Michael Gira in today's 'Age' when asked if it was true that the merch stand was selling cigar butts:
"Oh no, I was kidding," he laughs. So you were joking about the vials of semen then? "Oh no, that's for real, I generate a dozen of those a day. Good money in that."
Hate comes to Orange County
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today released a video of a rally organized by anti-Muslim bigots to protest a February fundraising event held by an American Muslim relief group for relief work and charity in the U.S.
A few hundred protesters showed up to the rally, which was sponsored by groups such as: "We Surround Them OC 912" (a local Tea Party group), Rabbi David Eliezrie of Chabad - Yorba Linda, North Orange County Conservative Coalition, ACT! for America, and Pamela Geller (whose group "Stop the Islamization of America" has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center).
Elected officials Congressmen Ed Royce and Gary Miller, and Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly also attended and spoke at the protest rally.
The event -- held at Yorba Linda Community Center, a facility that has been frequented by Muslim families and businesses over the years -- first became a target of anti-Muslim bigots over two of the fundraiser's speakers, who were to speak on the importance of charity in Islam. Initial attempts of some groups to have the Yorba Linda Community Center and the Yorba Linda City Council cancel the fundraising event failed, followed by the protest.
In a statement, CAIR-LA said:
"We support the First Amendment right of protest\eors anywhere in America to voice their concerns, dissent, and even hatred. However, when our nation's foundational values of inclusiveness, pluralism and equality are attacked by some in favor of calls for advocating hate and violence, then all Americans have a responsibility to challenge and expose such bigotry and those who enable it.
"As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA Relief fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as "Go home terrorist," "Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester," "Go home and beat your wife, she needs a good beating" at the event-goers.
"Even more disturbing was the participation and encouragement of elected officials in promoting the hateful protest rally. Villa Park Councilwoman, Deborah Pauly, while addressing the crowd at the rally, appeared to threaten Muslim event-goers. Congressman Ed Royce (R-40), in a troubling trend of disparaging Islam and its followers, added fuel to the fire by encouraging protesters to continue on with their hate-mongering. The attendance of Congressman Gary Miller (R-42) was a clear surprise, since he previously has engaged with all constituents, including Muslims, toward a better America.
"We strongly urge all elected officials in attendance to distance themselves from such an exhibition of hate and bigotry. We further ask residents and elected officials of Yorba Linda, Orange County and other parts of our nation to speak out against such hateful rhetoric and the continued Islamophobia that plagues our nation."
Council on American Islamic Relations-Los Angeles (CAIR-LA), Phone: 714-776-1847, Email: info@losangeles.cair.com
ca.cair.com/losangeles
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