31.08.2010
A LALIT delegation had an in-depth meeting with the leaders of Muvman Anti Drogue (The Movement Against Drugs) on the issue of long-term strategies against drugs and the illicit drugs trade. The meeting was held at the request of the MAD, and was at the LALIT headquarters Saturday 26 August at 1:30 pm. Each of the five-member delegation from MAD explained their involvement in the struggle, often over many years, and their feeling that it was not easy to "win" this struggle without very careful strategic thinking. LALIT members agreed. The essential issue that came up is that repression, instead of decreasing the drugs problem and the drugs trade, tends to provoke deeper links between the big-time drug-dealers with the State. This interlinking between the drug traffickers and the State is the definition of a Mafia. And once the State becomes part of the problem, it is not easy to make it part of the solution. The discussion then turned to measures that might "cut the grass from under the feet" of the Mafia, and force them into other "investments" of a less harmful nature. We also discussed getting at them through taxation of income, or visible signs of income. Another meeting will be held in the weeks to come to continue the very fruitful discussion, and it will be preceded by a viewing of the film "Paradi an Dey" by Jameel Peerally, one of their members.