A noticeable increase in the number of young people seeking treatment for cannabis abuse has thrown fuel into the fiery debate over its legalisation in South Africa.
Some assert cannabis use adds to the problem of drug abuse and warn children are passively smoking at home after a 2018 court ruling enabled adults to smoke weed in private.
Others argue “unfair arrest” trauma — in the absence of clear legislation — is a problem.
Nadine Harker, a scientist in the Drug Research Unit at the SA Medical Research Council, said while the numbers are still being crunched for a publishable report, cannabis use among young people has risen.
“Nationally, cannabis-related treatment admissions among young individuals — under age 20 — increased by 16%,” she said — comparing the second half of 2021 with the first half of 2022.
Limpopo and Mpumalanga saw the largest increase (20%) followed by Gauteng (15%), KwaZulu-Natal (12%) and the Western Cape (4%). The average age of those seeking treatment dropped from 24 to 21 in KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africa's apex court ruled in September 2018 it was unconstitutional to criminalise home use and cultivation of cannabis by adults.
The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill was drafted in response but is yet to be ratified by parliament. Law firm Webber Wentzel said it aimed to “regulate the use and possession of cannabis, as well as the cultivation of cannabis plants by adults for personal use ... [and] give effect to the landmark decision by the Constitutional Court”.
It was meant to be processed and ratified as law in 2022, but it is still pending.
Prof Kebogile Mokwena, head of public health at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, is outspoken on the potential impact of cannabis legalisation — particularly on children and youth — which “brings a range of significant negative consequences”.
Though the current discussion on legalisation limits cannabis use to private homes, and children are meant to be protected from exposure, there are no specific measures to protect children in such homes
— Prof Kebogile Mokwena
Quitting cannabis “is difficult, expensive, takes a long time and is often unsuccessful.
“Once addicted, many users in South Africa need and want treatment services but often have difficulty accessing such services.”
She said “increased availability, social acceptance and possibly lower prices” boost demand and use when a legal framework changes.
In an opinion piece in the African Journal of Primary Healthcare and Family Medicine, she said: “Though the current discussion on legalisation limits cannabis use to private homes, and children are meant to be protected from exposure, there are no specific measures to protect children in such homes.”
They are likely to be “subjected to passive smoking of cannabis”.
Myrtle Clarke, head of civil society organisation Fields of Green for All, said the legislative limbo has led to “ongoing unjust arrests”.
According to Research and Markets, South Africa’s cannabis/CBD industry was worth R87.7m in 2021 and expected to grow to R406m by 2026. Cannabis plants contain quantities of THC (sought by recreational users for a high) and CBD, not psychoactive. Legal CBD products locally cannot contain more than 0.001% THC.
“The harms of cannabis have to be weighted against the harms of prohibition,” said Clarke.
She said an increase in those seeking treatment was not “black and white” evidence that this stemmed from the apex court decision.
“We have known from the beginning that those on the prohibitionist side are two types: Christians and rehab centres that have an economic interest in it. Many of the rehab centres are faith-based.”
Persisting stigma shows it is a “generational thing”. “It doesn’t happen that you legalise it and suddenly there is no stigma. Cannabis use disorder should not be a priority. Arrest causes trauma, and that is a priority that can actually cause the disorder.”
She said the regulations have “been sitting in limbo for four and a half years”.
The NPO keeps records of arrests via their support helpline. One recent case, said Clarke, was of “an elderly woman arrested for a few plants growing in her garden” — a “snitch on your neighbour” scenario. “Despite SAPS directives to the contrary, the accused was arrested and locked up in a cage, only being granted bail the next day.”
On a scale of harm, cannabis was “down at seventh or eighth” but alcohol at number one
For Lindy Ferreira (not her real name), it’s increasingly difficult to “make sure my teens don’t smoke weed when all they’re hearing is the new fad that it is now legal ...”
“They are too young to understand the nuances of the law.”
South Africa is not the only country grappling with the cannabis debate.
In the US, where the opioid crisis is out of control, studies are proving the positives of cannabis. One, by City University of New York, found patients on long-term opioid treatment could lower their dose over time if on medical cannabis for 30 days or more.
Another study by University of Colorado Boulder found legalising recreational cannabis “does not increase substance use disorders or use of other illicit drugs among adults and, in fact, may reduce alcohol-related problems”.
On the other hand, a report last year by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found “legalisation in parts of the world appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts” particularly among young adults.
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