POLICE SHOCKED Botswana has no law prohibiting possession of CAT drug

Charging people for it is illegal CAT makes people kill loved ones, hallucinate

There is no law that criminalises possession of methcathinone in Botswana, Maun High court Judge Nthomiwa Nthomiwa has said. is means that the police cannot arrest anyone found in possession of the drug better known as CAT or katse in the streets. e Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) also cannot charge anyone found in possession of CAT because it is not listed in the schedule of the illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Nthomiwa said this when delivering judgement in a case where Newton Roggy Pelekekae took DPP to court for charging him with possession of CAT. He approached court seeking a review of the decision by DPP, saying it was irrational and unlawful.

When agreeing with Pelekekae, Nthomiwa said when interrogating the schedule to the illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, there are only two tables in which methcathinone is not listed under as an illicit substance.

“The respondent has no basis therefore of categorising methcathinone as an illicit substance since it is not categorised as such by the Act itself. e reading of the Act under Article 1 (r) directs one to the Convention on Psychotropic

Substances of 1971 which in its Schedule 1 declares Methcathinone as a Psychotropic Substance.

“In terms of section 5 and Section 6 of the Illicit Traffic on Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, a person can only be charged for Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance or on the cultivation of plants for narcotic or psychotropic substances purposes,” he said.

e judge went on to explain that there is no charge in terms of the Act for possession of a Psychotropic substance.

“e respondent’s actions of defining a Methcathinone as an illicit substance are therefore baseless at law.

They have failed to point to any authority through which they rely for categorising Methcathinone as an illicit substance,” Nthomiwa said.

He said the law is vague and a violation of due process or the rule of law.

“It is on that basis that when a court is seized with an interpretation of a seemingly vague penal provision, it adopts an interpretation that favours liberty of an individual,” he said.

Nthomiwa said the lawmakers should, when crafting and enacting laws, speak with irresistible clarity, lucidity and certainty.

Senior Superintendent Moatlhodi Ntuane of Botswana Police

Service Narcotics Fauna and Flora Investigations Unit did not want to comment on the legality of CAT when reached this week.

“I am not in a position to respond because of the judgement. Together with DPP, we are on consultation of whether to appeal or seek interpretation, hence I cannot speak to its legality at this stage,” he said.

According to Section 2 of the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act No, 15 of 2018, an illicit substance means any substance, natural or synthetic, which has been declared as an illicit substance by the Minister responsible for Health.

What this means is that for the existing law to be amended to include CAT as an illicit substance, the Minister responsible for Health, Edwin Dikoloti has to take the matter to Parliament.

e Midweek Sun has been reliably informed that since Nthomiwa’s judgement, authorities are busy trying to make sure the law is amended and CAT is scheduled.

Meanwhile, the CAT drug has rapidly become popular in the streets, especially among teenagers.

According to Mental Health Counsellor at Botswana Substance Abuse Support Network (BOSASNet) Catherine Moalosi who spoke to this publication in a previous interview, between 2021 and 2022, they recorded a 20 percent increase in clients seeking rehabilitation from the drug.

Teenagers aged 15-19 appear to be fascinated by the drug more than any other age group. It is not clear what fascinates them but BOSASNet has observed that teenagers take the drug for fun.

“You will find them writing things like ‘di kae di drugs re nwe re peke’ on social media, an indication that these teenagers think abusing drugs is some kind of cool fashion or a stage they should not miss out on,” Moalosi said.

Katse drug has crippling effects on bodies that are still developing.

It stimulates one’s brain and makes one become hyperactive, gives one the energy and confidence that one can do anything and everything under the sun.

is is one drug that makes them hallucinate and hear voices.

“In previous cases, we have had those who would see a dog that wanted to bite them and they would start fighting that dog. Some hear voices that tell them to kill themselves or kill their loved ones,” Moalosi elaborated.

Unfortunately, when such happens, the young drug users become a danger to themselves and the society.

Of late there have been cases of young people either committing suicide mysteriously, or even hurting and killing their loved ones. In most of the cases, the involved youth had been found to have been under the influence of drugs.

Asked where teenagers get this Katse drug, Moalosi said their clients tell them the drugs are sold by members of the community.

ey get them from a neighbour, some woman at school, family members and other places that are secretly selling the drug.

Katse is relatively cheap to buy, sold at around P50 for a small pack of 60g.