Opinion   Illicit drugs in Seychelles   |15 June 2022

We can begin by considering a global context. According to estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global illicit drugs market has an annual value of $320 billion, making it the third largest market in the world after oil and arms.

In 2011, UNODC estimated the number of deaths related to illicit drugs use to be 211,000.These figures are relatively low compared with annual rates related to use of alcohol and tobacco worldwide, which stand respectively at 2.5 million and nearly 6 million. However, this figure excludes deaths related to the production and trafficking of illicit drugs – primarily attributable to gun violence – which number in the hundreds of thousands. The economic and social negative externalities (domino effects) of drug abuse and illegal trade appear to be large scaled, colliding with the concept of reasonable functionality in a peaceful and healthy world order.

Synergy exists across different illicit drugs markets, with supply chains frequently spanning continents. It is generally accepted that government-led ‘wars against drugs’ have failed to seriously destabilise the production and distribution of illicit drugs, which are invariably controlled by organised crime syndicates or specialised cartels. However, in many parts of the developed world the use of narcotics has decreased during the last 15 years. Divergent opinions exist regarding the reasons for this.

Regardless, UNODC stated in 2008 that “if opiate use prevalence had remained the same as in the early years of the 20th century, the world would be facing some 90 million opiate users, rather than the 17 million it must care for today”.

Arguments for the complete legalisation of all presently illegal drugs have been made regularly during the last thirty years, with The Economist magazine pledging to periodically re-publish its reasons for supporting such a move. However, it is generally accepted that no government would risk alienating its population by taking such a radical step.

The reasons for decriminalisation can be summarised as follows:

1.         Governments take over the production, distribution and retail of drugs. This establishes quality control (fewer user deaths, ODs etc) and sets prices at low levels which render the cartels inoperative. Deaths from inter-gang wars decrease.
2.         Tax income from the sale of drugs is used for education programmes and treatment. This is the same as high taxation rates on alcohol and cigarettes funding treatment for those who succumb to the negative effects of these products.
3.         The status of illegality disappears. Psychologically drugs become less attractive to users who wish to demonstrate behaviour which transgresses social norms.
4.         The so-called war on drugs has failed, therefore strategy needs to be radically reconsidered.
5.         Alleviate pressure on the law enforcement and legislative agencies and free up resources to tackle alternative crime types.
6.         Reduce the number of crimes committed by addicts in order to fund their addictions
7.         Reduce the transmission of infectious diseases through the sharing of syringes.

The Seychelles context

Prior to the 21^st century Seychelles’ drug users were mostly taking marijuana, often grown and distributed locally and paid for in local currency. Since alternative, ‘harder’ drugs were foreign exchange commodities and since the Seychelles (prior to IMF intervention in 2008) experienced severe shortages of foreign currencies, use of heroin, cocaine and similar products was limited to a relatively small number of users. Once foreign exchange became more readily available Seychelles saw a shift in the user community’s drug of choice – from ‘soft’ marijuana to ‘hard’ opiates. Currently the official estimate of opiate users stands at circa 6,000, with several thousand people registered on the state-run methadone programme. The true addiction figures are probably higher. Seychelles has the highest per capita drug dependency figures in the world. At the time the 2008 UNODC report was compiled the world population stood at 6.7 billion. The related figure of 17m ‘users’ equated to a global average of 1 person in every 394 using opiates in some form, or approximately 0.25% of the global population. The previously mentioned figure relating to opiate (and substitute) users in Seychelles equates to just over 6% of the 2020 population, which is given as 98,347, or 24 times higher than the afore-mentioned global figure.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic the BBC reported that almost 10% of the working population of Seychelles is addicted to heroin – a figure obtained by the corporation from the Agency for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (Apdar). This was described with a banner headline; ‘The World's Worst Heroin Problem’.

Seychelles also has an unacceptably high prison population which is directly connected to the illegal drug market. Investigating, arresting and prosecuting users consumes considerable resources. The general opinion in Seychelles is that only small time dealers are caught, and that the key people behind the drugs business are never prosecuted and are somehow protected from arrest and prosecution. This is speculation, but speculation which has strong support across communities.

To mark its third anniversary of operation Apdar provided an overview of the drug treatment programmes available in Seychelles. Following the decision in 2011 to enforce a punitive crackdown the number of opiate users rose by 400% from the 2011 base of 1200. This necessitated a complete revision of policy in 2017, with a ‘softer’, ‘public health emergency’ approach declared.

Today heroin users in the Seychelles have three options:

1. Join a high threshold Methadone Maintenance Programme (MMP), which includes a period of in-patient treatment where they must commit to detoxification OR
2. Join the low threshold programme, which focuses on harm reduction. OR
3. Try and stay under the radar and continue to buy and use heroin, rejecting rehabilitation opportunities.

Crucial questions

1.         Why does Seychelles have such a serious drug problem?

We are obliged to consider the root causes of the present drug crisis.

We can begin by sharing an anecdote, again sourced from the BBC:

One recovering addict, a taxi driver who did not want to be named, offered a bleak assessment as he waited for his daily methadone in an empty car park in Les Mamelles.

“We're a small island in the middle of the ocean. What else is there to do here?” he said.

The Council considered this implied reference to boredom and made the following points:

• Life in Seychelles can be “boring”, especially for young people, however it is over-simplistic to attribute drug use to a sense of ennui. Issues of despondence and low self worth – to name just two, make this anything but a binary issue.

• Society has a responsibility to infuse its citizens with a sense of the possible and to encourage them to identify and subscribe to creative pursuits which contribute to both self-development and the health of the community at large.

• The education system has, with regard to many of its ‘customers’, failed to deliver through its curricula, stimulating portfolios of possibilities which are inclusive and within the ethos of equality of opportunity.

• Further, that the message broadcast to young Seychellois has at times been one of misleading ‘faux’ positivism – essentially an upbeat vision of the future which is baseless and which excludes the concept of meritocracy. Young people are presented with a mythology which promises that simply being Seychellois is enough to secure a bright future. This failure of state-generated rhetoric has, for some, created a significant credibility gap between expectation and reality. The debilitating differences between the future as imagined and future reality once it arrives could be the trigger for some young people to engage in escapist drug use.

• The availability of foreign exchange post-IMF intervention in 2008. The lack of consideration of the negative externalities which would follow increased supplies of hard currency was mentioned. Heroin is a ‘forex product’.

• The very large sums of money to be made by those controlling the drug business in Seychelles.

• Our nation's porous geography, which makes it almost impossible to prevent the importation of drugs.

• The fisheries sector may have certain vulnerabilities which can lead to involvement in drug trafficking.

2.         What can be done to reduce the severity of this situation?

• We need to consider fresh investigative initiatives such as more dog units covering sensitive districts and boat mooring zones, as well as more sophisticated algorithmic systems to identify drug-related activity.

• Utilise diplomatic channels in order to broker mutuality of understanding between our representatives and the governments of nations from which, or through which, drugs are shipped to Seychelles.

• Admit that the situation is beyond our capacity to solve in terms of human resources, remedial programmes and facilities. There is nothing shameful in a small island nation requesting intervention from larger nations with greater experience of implementing a multi-faceted approach to a national holistic drug culture. We have to be mindful however that any schemes grafted onto our society are not subject to rejection by the host.

• Any said schemes must be transparent and accountable. Politicians might well adopt the role of ‘good cop’ in the interests of the secure introduction of initiatives which are partnered.

• More granular data is required about every aspect of the drug problem – the more we know about the detail of the situation the greater our chance of remedial and preventative interventions which work.

• The Ministry of Health should be charged with obtaining more information on the status and character of new born babies with addict mothers. Specific follow-up monitoring should be in place with consideration given to the spectres of ADHD and slower (than normal) cognitive development. The impact of maternal drug use upon infants is visible but is not currently being measured, quantified or analysed. Effective synergy should be in place between Health and Social Services. The most at risk babies need to be registered and identified for extensive monitoring if they are not to

disappear into ‘drug areas’ once they leave hospital.

• Presently records relating to pregnant addict mothers and, later, their babies are compiled in a large hand-written ledger at the hospital. Surely we can do better!

• Could there be an anti-opiate ‘vaccination’ or implant, similar to programmes used in cases of life-threatening alcoholism?

• Collectively, agencies, government and the private sector need to break the vicious cycle of drug dependency which is particularly prevalent in certain communities. One proposal for a cohesive approach is included in the conclusion section of this paper.

• Once again, the importance of giving citizens rewarding and meaningful social, cultural and professional opportunities cannot be over-emphasised. If a person has ‘joie de vivre’ are they less likely to become dependent upon illegal drugs? Council condoned this assertion unanimously.

• Key suppliers need to be dealt with without fear, favour or prejudice. The value of the ‘illegal economy’ which they control needs to be ascertained, with the cost and value sides being evaluated.

• Improved drug education programmes such as Life Skills in schools need to be complemented by national public awareness campaigns which are appropriate (in a reformative, motivational and preventative sense) to a defined target audience.

• Depictions in the media which glamourise drugs and drug users/dealers need to be challenged through the above methods.

• Establish a national mentorship programme for selected individual drug users. Mentoring teams can include former addicts. Such schemes have, in other countries, proved to be successful in inculcating a sense of enhanced self worth in young people who have lost sight of their individual value.

• Include an appreciation of core values – not just ethical/moral but also economic – in quite young children through the school formal, pastoral, extra and ‘hidden’ curricula.

• Enhance the provision of quality medical, psychiatric and social support for addicts seeking rehabilitation.

• A body should be charged with the objective of carrying out an extensive audit of multinational counter narcotic programmes, with a final strategy proposed for Seychelles which combines the most relevant and ‘fit for purpose’ strategic initiatives.

• Could there be, one day, the necessity for general testing (HIV, Hepatitis, Heroin) as an obligation to citizens, if not commonly across the board then e.g. when receiving hospital care by or for certain essential groups in society?

• Singapore as an example, has reached a certain level of success with their strong measures against drug abuse and illegal trade. (Similar to their well implemented environmental laws).

•           Education programmes need to be revised. Simply portraying drugs as ‘evil’, ‘killing’ substances will provoke the inevitable questions from school students, among them the obvious one, which is ‘well, if that is true then why do so many people take them and seem to enjoy taking them?’ Rather than continue with this failed narrative schools should present facts regarding the consequences – actual and potential – of drug use against the background that people use drugs in order to change the way in which they feel. At some point all students will be offered drugs. The decisions they make will be better if they are well informed and trustworthy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although not explicitly adopted, Council members gravitated to the view that a small but effective task force should be created at which all relevant agencies are represented, including (but not exclusively so) Health, Diplomatic Corps, Apdar, Education, Local Government, Finance, Police, FIU and Anti-Narcotics Bureau.

Unlike the Cross Sectorial meetings and recent pandemic-provoked Task Force meetings, the above group should, in order to be effective, number no more than 8 persons plus secretariat/ministerial support.

Contributed by the Mahé Council Think Tank

Disclaimer:

The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.