Dagga is as South African as biltong and boerebeskuit

Regarding the debate about the possible legalisation of dagga – which started in October – the following …

The current ‘war on drugs’ is a broken system.

It’s a war on people and does little to protect anyone from substance abuse. It’s the same mentality that was used to justify enforcing the Mixed Marriages Act, where the offender was also the victim.

It’s a perverse incentive to put people into prison – from physical prison to social prison with a subsequent criminal record.

If you think that dagga is a dangerous narcotic, then you have been duped through propaganda. Dagga is as traditional to SA as biltong, boerebeskuit and witblits.

It fascinated Jan van Riebeeck, and missionaries extolled its virtues. It grows like a weed, and is medicinal in its natural form, with a lower potential for harm to self and society than sugar.

It is supported by science (which has discovered the endocannabinoid system), it’s legal in 24 USA states with 200 million US citizens having access to it as medicine (again, utilising the endocannabinoid system) and the populations of 11 other countries also have legal access to it.

Deaths from opioid overdoses have also dropped by up to 25 per cent in states where dagga has been legalised.

You will find plenty of peer-reviewed studies, and medical professionals who support dagga as a therapeutic plant.

In SA, one company is supplying dagga oil to people suffering with terminal diseases. Their testimonials to the healing power of dagga are worth a read.

The SA central drug authority (CDA) has also called for the decriminalisation of dagga and a recent study they commissioned concluded that dagga kills cervical cancer.

Vilifying dagga and then using that stance to ‘protect our children’ is pointless. Rather use fact-based solutions (science) focusing on harm reduction through healthcare and education, as recommended by SA substance abuse experts.

It’s better that the control of dagga is removed from the streets and regulated from behind the counter through legalisation. This removes the ‘taboo’ label, enabling people who need help to seek it, without the fear of being arrested.

Dagga is a therapeutic plant. It’s time we treat it that way.