Ban on alcohol and tobacco ‘extremely dangerous’
The South African Drug Policy Initiative has called on the government to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco during the national lockdown.
Shops are not allowed to sell any alcohol or tobacco products for the duration of the 21-day lockdown period, as part of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in South Africa.
The initiative’s co-founder Keith Scott says they are completely opposed to the ban.
“We oppose to this for several reasons. It prejudices to people who have substances dependence like alcoholism or who may be addicted to tobacco. The number of these people are considerable, noting that they need medical treatment for this and the medical treatment doesn’t remove the need for substances.”
Scott says the ban poses a danger to the health of addicts, who could experience severe withdrawal symptoms which in turn could lead to psychosis and convulsions or death.
“It can be extremely dangerous because they suffer severe symptoms like seizures that can result in death and the medical help that they need is not always available.”
Scott also believes the ban discriminates against the poor.
“The ban is discriminatory against poor people who didn’t have money to stockpile alcohol on time like the wealthy who had an opportunity to stock up.”
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