Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
drug edition 2014latest news & developments

‘For our love of dagga we go to court’

The Dagga Couple feel they owe it to the plant to fight for legislation. They want to make the existing market legal.

Tik user Lance has been using for 14 years. “People must know what is going on.”

Tik-tock: Hangberg’s meth timebomb

Crystal meth may have trapped users in crimes, but it is also the fulcrum of an illicit economy that employs hundreds.

Harmless

Harmless, harmful or medicinal

Is cannabis a wonder plant for every ailment or downright dangerous? Here’s what the different sides argue.

‘Rocky’

Nyaope’s deadly, and addictive, mix

The highly addictive mix of heroin and cannabis is the drug of choice for the economic outcasts.

Just what the doctor ordered: The one-ounce bags available at the Berkeley Patients Group in California.

Excerpts from the era of the Great Blue Fog

California voters approved medical marijuana in 1996 but the retailing of pot did not bloom until 2009, when the state finally issued "guidelines".

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa will be held in Tshwane this year.

Ganja goes gourmet

Not everyone enjoys smoking cannabis, hence the thriving scene of "edibles". Usually sweet treats, but any food can be laced with cannabis.

The violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during the final moments before the sinking of the Titanic is displayed with a leather carrying case initialed W H H.

Cape Town’s rehabs for the rich and infamous

The Malibu Model has reached Cape Town. And for those who want to get sober, and have the kind of cash that gets you the best, it’s a beautiful thing.

Hamas Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya gives a policy statement in a televised address in Gaza City.

Snapshots of nyaope destruction

Nineteen-year old Lindokuhle Sobhekwa, who is in his final year at school, began photographing nyaope smokers in his East Rand neighbourhood last year

On the road with heroin smugglers

After meeting a Tanzanian stowaway, Sean Christie gets caught up in a hair-raising heroin run from Dar es Salaam to Cape Town.

Drug abuse or drug use?

Drug abuse or drug use?

Two anonymous testimonies of drug users – one good experience, one bad.

Slaves to the rhythm: Inanda clubbers enjoy the music specially tailored to the drug of choice for some of them; others will perhaps ‘top up’ so they can party the entire weekend away.

Qoh and gqom: Music and ecstasy mix in Durban

Inanda has evolved its own nihilistic ecstasy scene, complete with a loopy music genre.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers. (Madelene Cronje)

Addicted to addiction memoirs

It’s a genre that’s easy to get hooked on – that’s if you’re into misery, redemption and excruciating honesty.

Injecting drug users need access to safe needle exchanges and opiate substitution programmes.

Addicted to drug addiction memoirs

The first instalment of our drug edition looks at books that are easy to get hooked on – if you’re into misery, redemption and excruciating honesty.