National assembly - 28 February 2013
ACDP says making illegal drugs legal will exacerbate SA drug problem
Calls on Government to promote awareness of harmful effects of Dagga
ACDP Member of Parliament and Health spokesperson, Cheryllyn Dudley, today in the National Assembly stated that:
“In response to recent polls and suggestions that ‘legalisation and regulation of the sale of dagga could reduce the negative impact of the criminal drug trade’, the ACDP has raised concerns that the serious problems facing our country due to abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs will not be seriously dealt with, if reduced to a matter of whether or not dagga should be legalised.
The tragic impact on individuals, families and communities experienced and witnessed daily will not stop until this government gets serious about crushing the drug trade from every angle – making illegal drugs legal - will only exacerbate the problem.
Cannabis advocates, allege benefits of marijuana use with little or no scientific basis. Dagga contains chemicals that affect the brain, heart, and lungs slowing down the central nervous system and stays in the body for weeks stored in fat. It is addictive, causes decreased motivation resulting in poor achievement, can adversely affect fertility and causes negative social behaviour at home and at school.
In addition smoking any substance causes the smoker to inhale cancer causing substances. It is for that reason that no medicine is administered by smoking it.
The legal status of marijuana was downgraded in Britain in 2005 to a less dangerous Class C drug, in 2008 the legal status of marijuana was re-upgraded again to a more dangerous Class B drug. And Holland is backtracking after having legalized cannabis for some years - once legalized, the government was unable to separate the criminal element in the drug trade from the legal cannabis trade.
To say that ‘legalisation and regulation of the sale of dagga could reduce the negative impact of the criminal drug trade in our country’ is in our opinion irresponsible, and the ACDP calls on government to do all it can to promote awareness of the harmful effects of this substance which apart from everything else will negatively impact on productivity levels in our society.
The ACDP regards legalisation and regulation of the sale of dagga as a defeatist approach to the drug trade presently taking a terrible toll on our country.”
Good evening Cheryllyn. Did you receive my email that I sent you yesterday? Did you go to the address for the ebook called 'Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink?' that I linked to? If you had you will have seen plenty of reasonable, scientifically backed arguments for why it makes sense to legalise dagga.
ReplyDeleteIf there is little to no evidence for cannabis having health benefits then please explain to me why it and its derivatives are a legally obtainable medicine in numerous countries including Canada, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Australia and 19 states in the USA.
The main reason for the severe lack of adequate research into cannabis' health benefits is the stifling effect that prohibition has on research institutions and specialists. Money is often times not given to researchers unless terms can be dictated to them. This is hardly surprising as most politicians are backed by lobbyists who do not do not want research which shows cannabis in a positive light to be made available to the public.
Hello Ms Dudley. the position of the ACDP is loosing ground in the world scheme of things. The war on drugs has been won by the drugs. times and legislation need to change.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have 5 minutes to read this article from the respected journal 'The economist'
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21572184-experiments-legalisation-are-showing-what-post-war-approach-drug-control-could-look
Dear Cheryllyn,
ReplyDeleteI would like to share an article with you, please be so kind as to peruse it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal#Law_and_criminal_justice
Portugal has:
".. arguably the most liberal laws concerning possession of illicit drugs in the Western world. In 2001 Portugal decriminalized possession of effectively all drugs that are still illegal in other developed nations including, but not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and LSD."[1]
Its been a decade since this was implemented with the results:
"Despite criticism from other European nations, who stated Portugal's drug consumption would tremendously increase, overall drug use rose only slightly, whilst use among teenagers dropped, along with the number of HIV infection cases, which had dropped 50 percent by 2009." [1]
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America, who have long been prohibition champions now have 2 States who enjoy recreational legalisation and numerous other states who recognize Cannabis as a viable and effective medicine - however it is still Prohibited at a Federal Level, and so they wage more war with each other.
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Secondly,
The Information regarding Dagga in your Blog post is highly biased and generalised - it gives a false, one-sided view of Dagga and by extension Prohibition.
Googling Cannabis today you will see 60,600,000 results - your party's world view on the matter stands in conflict with this information - which is readily available in a more balanced fashion, highlighting both sides of this issue.
We have been using Cannabis safely for thousands of years[2], it has only been illegal for the past 90 years or so. It has long been a source of food, textiles & building material, medicine, economic stimulator and relatively safe recreational inebriant.
If you wish to edify yourself about the history of Dagga in South Africa, please refer to this informative video https://www.daggacouple.co.za/dagga-the-truth/
References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal#Law_and_criminal_justice
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_cultivation
[3] https://www.daggacouple.co.za/dagga-the-truth/