Even in a lockdown, keep the booze and cigarettes flowing

I'm not ordinarily into making bets as I really don't like losing, but I'm ready to bet Kenya's current dusk-to-dawn curfew is leading up to a lockdown like we have in South Africa. 

Of course, just to ensure I lose the bet, now the powers that be (you know they all read my column religiously) will find an alternative. Thank me later, if you must.

Anyway, well into my first week of the lockdown and I'm still alright. It helps that while not an essential service, like the nurses and doctors or even the police and the technicians at Eskom (the electric company), journalists are classified as an "enabling" service. So we have a licence to "manga manga ovyo ovyo bila idhini", or at least get out of the gate for more than just a grocery run or a trip to the local hospital or the ATM.

It's a literal licence, by the way, typewritten on an official letterhead and duly stamped and signed. I feel like I'm in some World War 2 movie and some soldier is about to ask me for my papers. 

Meanwhile, I don't know why they bothered with allowing people trips to the ATM when it is cheaper and as easy in SA to withdraw cash from the supermarket till when you buy something. Although not with a foreign cash card, I tried. 

Anyway, I really do digress. I was going to tell you how I'm surviving the lockdown. Because of my licence, I get to go into the CBD while the rest of my household has to stay housebound. 

So while the poor devils have to find creative ways of keeping sane, I get to live a somewhat normal existence. Except it's not normal to have next to no cars on the road, once busy streets free of people. 

When I get home, I have a drink or three to take the edge off and feel bad for those who didn't or couldn't stock up on booze the day before lockdown. 

If you do have a lockdown, all I can say is don't lock away the booze, no matter how appropriate you think it is. 

In SA, the lockdown is going ok for now, but if you hear about riots and chaos, it will be because some zealots decided to ban alcohol and tobacco sales as part of the lockdown measures. 

I spoke to a medical doctor who said, "Although the decision to ban the sale of these two drugs was made with the best intentions, it was not a good idea: this ad hoc law fails to adequately consider the harms that its enforcement will do to the many vulnerable individuals who suffer from substance use disorders." 

He added, "Especially in the case of alcohol, many of those with substance use disorders cannot simply stop using drugs. If they do, they risk developing a range of symptoms, including psychosis, seizures and ultimately death."

Substance use disorder is a medical condition that often affects people with mental illness or underlying psychosocial problems. It can be managed and treated by healthcare specialists with drugs, psychiatric care and other supportive measures. Switching off the booze tap is the wrong answer. 

Edited by T Jalio