Reforming Cannabis Policing from Within:

A Data-Driven Approach

We can’t stop the ongoing arrests for the use, cultivation and possession of Cannabis without engaging with the South African Police Service.

Fields of Green for ALL is proud to announce our plans to do just that. Together with our criminology expert, Dr Simon Howell and the University of Cape Town, we are launching South Africa’s first real effort at Police Reform. There are also plans to bring other academic institutions on board.

Projects like this require funding in addition to our current members’ donations and a detailed funding proposal can be downloaded HERE. Please contact us for more info if you would like to be part of this groundbreaking initiative.

Executive Summary

This research project, titled Reforming Cannabis Policing from Within: A Data-Driven Approach, addresses the ongoing misalignment between South Africa’s evolving cannabis legislation—notably the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act—and current law enforcement practices. Despite the bill’s intent to decriminalise certain aspects of cannabis use and cultivation for private purposes, arrests for possession, use, and cultivation continue, often reflecting outdated policing protocols and inconsistent legal interpretations. These enforcement discrepancies disproportionately affect socio-economically marginalised communities, exacerbating existing inequalities and perpetuating systemic biases within the criminal justice system.

The project seeks to bridge this gap by systematically collecting, analysing, and utilising data from individuals arrested for cannabis-related offences, gathered through Fields of Green for ALL’s Stop the Cops initiative—a confidential hotline designed to support those affected and document enforcement practices—as well as other sources such as crime data collected by the Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. The collected data has been compiled through a structured digital intake process, capturing key information such as arrest locations, offence types, police conduct, and socio-economic backgrounds of those arrested.

Funding this project is imperative for ensuring a data-driven, evidence-based approach to cannabis policing reform in South Africa. The project will leverage the data to directly engage with SAPS management so as to reform the current directives driving arrests, from within. By supporting this research then, funders will directly contribute to the generation of critical insights that will inform legislative bodies, law enforcement agencies, and civil society actors about the real-world implications of current enforcement strategies. The research outputs—including policy briefs, academic publications, stakeholder engagement reports, and interactive data visualisations—will provide policymakers and law enforcement with tangible recommendations for aligning policing practices with legislative intent, thereby reducing wrongful arrests and mitigating socio-economic harm. Additionally, funders will gain visibility as key supporters of progressive, rights-based approaches to drug policy reform, reinforcing their commitment to justice, equity, and effective governance. Through public dissemination and strategic advocacy, this project has the potential to catalyse systemic change, ensuring that South Africa’s cannabis laws are implemented in a manner that upholds human rights, legal consistency, and social justice.