South African Central Drug Authority (CDA) Position Paper on Cannabis
regard to ways of countering cannabis-related problems. However, the following two issues have to be given (more) attention: Indications in other countries that drug treatment courts lower recidivism and “criminal” labelling, indeed divert “offenders” with drug-related problems into appropriate treatment; and The value of (a) wide-spread public awareness of the adverse effects of particular patterns of cannabis use, and (b) wide-spread public participation in efforts at countering cannabis-related problems. Finally, the following statements of the Director-General of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria, underlines a key issue to be considered in the discussion of cannabis policy: “The priority the international community is attributing to … stronger tobaccocontrol legislation … is twin to global efforts to maintain strong counter-narcotics legislation … If we apply the spirit … of … [the] Tobacco Control Convention (agreed by 171 member states) to cannabis, it is clear what we need to do. We need to ensure that the centre of our attention is the health and the well being of our people … [However,] is there not a contrast … between efforts by the international community to negotiate and agree on a Convention on Tobacco, because of the lethal consequences of its abuse, and the frequently heard calls to liberalize the production, trafficking and abuse of cannabis—a substance known to bring about even greater damage to health?”
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