Dealing In Death. Ellen Pakkies and a Community's Struggle with Tik. Comment Helen Zille, by Sylvia Walker

Dealing In Death. Ellen Pakkies and a Community's Struggle with Tik. Comment Helen Zille, by Sylvia Walker.

This is the foreword by Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, to Sylvia Walker's book Dealing In Death. Ellen Pakkies and a Community's Struggle with Tik.

Sylvia Walker  

Over the past ten years, substance abuse has become one of post-apartheid South Africa's most serious developmental challenges. It is a leading contributor to the national burden of disease, and it is at the root of more than half of all violent crime. In the Western Cape, where Sylvia Walker's narrative is set, the police estimate that about 70 per cent of violent criminal cases in urban centres are related to alcohol or drug abuse. Much of this is domestic violence, while the huge illicit market that the illegal drug trade has created also drives gangsterism, international crime syndicates and organised community vigilantism in response. All of these social consequences have escalated dramatically with the introduction of methamphetamine in the region. Methamphetamine, locally known as tik, has created serious problems for health and police authorities around the world because of the volatile behaviour it triggers. So much so that new rehabilitation techniques have had to be developed to address it, as traditional methods have proven to be ineffective. Sylvia Walker offers a tragic study of its impact on the Western Cape. She combines a heartfelt biographical account of Ellen Pakkies, a Cape Town mother who killed her methamphetamine-dependent child, with well-researched and even-handed analysis of the effects of tik, and the future challenges that substance abuse poses in the region. With the rapid spread of substance abuse in South Africa and internationally, this book is an invaluable resource that will help readers deepen their knowledge about the topic, while helping to break down some of the myths that have developed around it.

This is an excerpt from the book: Dealing In Death. Ellen Pakkies and a Community's Struggle with Tik, by Sylvia Walker.

Title: Dealing In Death
Subtitle: Ellen Pakkies and a Community's Struggle with Tik
Authors: Sylvia Walker
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Zebra Press
Cape Town, South Africa 2009
ISBN 9781770200319 / ISBN 978-1-77020-031-9
Softcover, 15x23 cm, 252 pages, several colour photos