Anti Drug Alliance Calls for Legalisation of Marijuana in South Africa

This past week could not have gone any better or worse for the local cannabis community. Two stories simultaneously dominated the headlines, giving clarity and context to the issue of dagga legalization in South Africa. This year’s Anti Drug Alliance survey results barely made it to the headlines before hot on its heels followed the tragedy of a small cannabis bust turning into carnage on our roads.

An annual survey conducted by the Anti Drug Alliance brought to light some interesting numbers. There were over 55,000 middle class respondents to the survey of which 32% admitted to using cannabis. This was an 11% increase from the previous year.

What this demonstrates is that as many as 1 in 3 middle class citizens partake in use dagga and are therefore shockingly considered to be criminals.

Typically you would expect rehab centers to be firmly against the legalization of cannabis. We’ve seen one of the local big name rehabs go so far as to place themselves squarely on the fence by opposing legalization, but favoring decriminalization, while other rehab centers have made it quite clear that they consider cannabis to be a scourge upon our earth and that all they need to continue their cause is a bible in one hand and a fistful of sob stories in the other. Common sense has however risen to the surface of the legalization discussion.

Anti Drug Alliance’s chief executive, Quintin van Kerken, has called for the legalization of drugs due to the failings of the current approach.

Who would have expected a recovered drug addict turned rehab center chief executive to see the sense in an alternative approach to the war on drugs? Your garden variety ex-junkie tends to blame everything else other than themselves for their drug abuse demise. Cannabis is usually described by them as the first drug that couldn’t get them high enough anymore and therefore forced them to look for new thrills in crack pipes and brown sugar syringes. We’ve often seen and heard some of these ex-junkies take every opportunity to morally rape cannabis.

Now we have a new breed. One who has learnt for themselves the danger of drug abuse, one who regularly sees the damage done by drug abuse, one who does not see the sense in making criminals of drug users or abusers. This is certainly another feather in the cannabis legalization cap. Let’s hope that Quintin van Kerken’s message gets the attention it deserves. I for one am tired of the usual parade and chorus of people who blame everything and everyone other themselves for the bad decisions they made.

During the early hours of the very same morning that the survey made headlines we received a shocking reminder of what the prohibition of cannabis costs us. A multimillion rand sports car, two cops and small amount of grass was all it took to set the media ablaze. A young man driving an Audi R8 was found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis. Shortly thereafter both he and one of the cops were dead, the sports car strewn across the road in pieces and their blood staining the warming summer tar.

There’s been a lot of speculation as to what really went down. Some say the cop was in the car for a joy ride, others say the driver made a run for it while cop was searching the car. There have even been claims that the dagga was planted by the cops in order to leverage a bribe. Either way the result is the same… two people are dead due to a small cannabis bust.



The families and loved ones of two people on both sides of the cannabis war have now paid the dearest price imaginable. They will bury their loved ones to the soundtrack of broken hearts and shattered dreams. I cannot begin to imagine their gut wrenching pain as they try to piece together what’s left of their lives.

In true South African style it has taken tragedy and death to get a reaction from our society. Thousands if not millions of us will feast on the media coverage of this story as we each add our two cents to the discussion about whether this could have all been avoided were cannabis legal. Perhaps it is this level of martyrdom (intentional or not) which we have become accustomed to as a result of our still healing past.

Our country is far from perfect and has many historical and current pressing issues to address, but for the first time in my life I am ashamed to be South African. Not because of Apartheid or some other form of historic guilt. I am ashamed because our leaders, the people who should represent the best of us, do little more than demonstrate the worst of us by refusing to acknowledge the discussion of cannabis legalization… let alone being prepared to enter the discussion.

We can only hope that it does not take further death or destruction to bring cannabis prohibition to an end. Surely the memories of our past are still fresh enough to teach us what it should not take to end the current and continuing persecution of millions of South Africans.

SOURCE: Belowthelion.co.za