Empowering Fijians to say no to illicit drugs our big challenge

The illicit drug trade worldwide is a multibillion-dollar business. Eradicating it is a mission impossible. Fiji is a tiny spec in this complicated trafficking web. But it does not mean we give up the war against it.

Last month, news broke about the discovery of three tonnes of cocaine found floating in the seat near the Lau Group.

It had an estimated street value of AUS$500 million. It was said to be the largest haul in the region.

It was enough to meet the local consumption demand in New Zealand for 30 years and Australia for six months

Hot on the heels of that find, a joint United States and Australian operation busted an international drug ring after intercepting more than three tonnes of cocaine aboard a ship off the coast of South America heading to Australia.

The two incidents highlight the relentless efforts of drug rings to market their illegal drugs like cocaine. Fiji has not been spared as a transit point.

It appears the big markets in the region are Australia and New Zealand.

Our local challenge is the marijuana trade.

It’s a lucrative trade for cultivators and Police have done the best with the resources available to them to carry out marijuana farm raids and confiscate plants, but farms keep springing up.

The outcome proves that there is a market out there and the consumption demand is high. It’s a demand and supply situation.

If we can reduce and cut off the demand the supply would drop and eventually evaporate.

There is an urgent need, if we are serious about winning this battle against illegal drugs, to empower Fijians to say no to illicit drugs.

We should use the same strategy that we suggested in this column on Tuesday and that was to identity the root causes of domestic violence and address them.

We also suggested that we empower couples by educating them through workshops that there are better ways to solve domestic disputes than using violence. The Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, suggested a similar approach to dealing with the illicit drug problem.

Like domestic violence, the drug problem has many aspects to it.

While the Police are targeting the suppliers/cultivators we need to be helping the consumers kick the habit and educating our people who have never done drugs to never try it because it is not worth it.

Illegal drugs are harmful to our health, relationships and destroy families and communities. Only a few benefits from their proceeds.

Unemployment drives people to crime and drugs. So, we must be engaged in getting people to work. When people are gainfully employed the chances are they will stay away from crime and illicit drugs. Many people have been sucked into illegal drugs because of their addictive nature.

The drugs give them a false sense of happiness, peace and security.

All these factors should be spelled out to participants of proposed workshops.

NEMANI DELAIBATIKI

Feedback: nemani.delaibatiki@fijisun.com.fj