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    "id": 384904,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/384904/?format=api",
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    "content": "people that we must deal with. To deal with them we must understand their psychology. These are individuals who will stop at nothing until they sell their cargo, irrespective of the damage that would be caused. We must also rise up to the fact that we are endowed with technology and can curtail the entry of these drugs into our country, using the existing technologies. We do know that drugs enter into our country at the moment, not through the conventional means of hand luggage, but through the alimentary canals and sometimes, the reproductive systems of individuals. I believe that Sen. (Dr.) Machage knows about this. We do know that there is a lot of cargo of heroin being carried by individuals in their bodies. Therefore, we must apply technology in our country. We have MRIs and should be able to screen these individuals and actually detect these dangerous drugs before they enter the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must also apply the law ruthlessly when it comes to the trafficking of these drugs. Saudi Arabia, a country which has millions of visitors every year, has the least number of drug traffickers entering that country. The reason is very simple. The rules regarding trafficking of drugs in that country are ruthless. If you are arrested with drugs at the airport in Saudi Arabia, in a few minutes, you will be taken outside the airport and some people with machetes will say a few words in Islam and you will be decapitated. If we really need to get rid of these drugs, we must put in place ruthless legislation to be able to deal with this kind of individuals. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think that we must also join the international community in fighting this menace. This is an international phenomenon. Therefore, we must join the international community and ensure that our laws conform to the international laws that deal with this drug menace. Unless we have a very ruthless way of dealing with this, we shall continue to suffer the very serious consequences of drugs in our country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other lot of people that we need to deal with, of course, is the consumers. We have old consumers who are individuals who are already addicted and hopeless in the society. We must express sympathy with them and set up rehabilitation homes where can actually bring them back to life again. This has been done and continues to be done. We should be able to rescue the young who have already fallen victim to this kind of thing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the next category, of course, are those new consumers who are coming into the market. I think that this is a situation where we have to use the carrot and stick. I think that it is time in this country that we should legalize local brews, so that they are not used underground. We need to manage them. We know that traditional liquor has been there for years and does not cause any problems. So, if we legalize it, the better because we will control it. We can, therefore, control the alcohol content in all the brews because this is happening in many other countries. In those counties, people go out for lunch, have a glass of beer and go to the office perfectly normal. The amount of alcohol in their drinks is so small that it is inconsequential. We can do the same in this country if we care to manage this menace. With the hard drinks like spirits and wines, we can overprice them so that they are out of reach to many people. The consequence of reaching them is that you will really have to dig deep into your pocket. This will be of benefit to the Exchequer in that we can tax them to the level The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}