Time for legal regulation of drugs, say experts

The war on drugs has done more harm than good and must be replaced by legal regulation, say eminent doctors at the helm of a new think-tank. University of Cape Town (UCT) emeritus professors of medicine Dan Ncayiyana and JP van Niekerk are among the founding board members of the SA Drug Policy Initiative (SADPI). Announcing the new NGO in the South African Medical Journal, they said there is an urgent need for a new approach to ‘this emotional and important healthcare and sociopolitical issue’. A Sunday Times report notes their approach is supported by unpublished Western Cape Government research that looked at how to defeat gangsterism. It found that drugs were the main source of income for almost all gangs, that the intensification of anti-drug enforcement efforts fuel violence, that a significant proportion of street crime is drug-related and existing drug policies maintain inequality. ‘Given the escalating scale of the drug problem, it's clear that the present approach has failed and a recalibration is urgently necessary,’ says the research report. The new approach was backed by one of SA's leading experts on alcohol and drugs, Charles Parry, of the Medical Research Council, and by Central Drugs Authority chair David Bayever. Parry said: ‘By decriminalising the personal use of drugs, funds spent on policing otherwise harmless people could be redirected to preventing and reducing harms associated with drug use.’ But Police Minister Bheki Cele was adamant that the war on drugs is ‘winnable’, saying alcohol is legalised and regulated but still causes ‘havoc’ in many communities. ‘Through targeted policing and also collaborations with international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and other agencies, SA can be a drug-less country,’ said his spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba.

Keith Scott, a doctor and chair of the new NGO, said the ‘punitive law enforcement approach’ had victimised addicts, who amounted to only 10% of all drug users. They were often imprisoned at a young age, robbing their families of parents and breadwinners. Prevention and treatment of addiction, in the context of a regulated drug market, would not eliminate drug problems but the benefits – including a dramatic reduction in the burden of drugs on the criminal justice system – would outweigh any disadvantages, said Scott. In 2017, every prison inmate cost the fiscus R134 000, with a total bill of R21bn, he said, according to the Sunday Times report. Overcrowding in excess of 200% at some prisons is responsible for the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis and leptospirosis, which is spread by rats. Legislation and regulation would give drug users access to crucial information such as the side-effects of what they were taking. It would also ensure high-quality drugs and mean addicts could be freely treated with ever-decreasing doses of the substance they rely on. Scott said: ‘The major benefit is that people who take drugs won't have criminal records or go to jail. They will still be able to work and earn a living for their families. Then if they have mental illness they won't get stigmatised like they do now.’