Waniwa Lester, an Aboriginal elder from Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yunkatjatjarra (APY) lands in South Australia, says that hunger is leading Aboriginal children to turn to drugs to satiate hunger pains.
The statements came yesterday as Lester called for federal help in instituting children and women’s shelters on the Aboriginal area of South Australia.
Now, the first reaction to the claim that drugs are being taken in lieu of food is that either the claim is wrong, drugs are damn cheap or food is damn expensive - the latter two of which are usually quite unlikely. However, when you realise that a piece of fruit in some Aboriginal areas of South Australia costs as much as $3 a piece, then it starts to become plausable.
Combined with the fact that a small amount of sniffing petrol can be easily found for free (the market price is about $1.50 per litre) , then the claims begin not to look so unreasonable.
Perhaps however, the main problem in the equation is the rediculous price of basic foodstuffs. For comparison a piece of fruit in the city can be bought for well under 50 cents.
Either way, Lester’s claims aren’t far fetched as they first sound and would seem to present a relatively easy way to make an indent on the drug problem within that Aboriginal community.
Now, we just have to wait for the politicians…
