“As the ideologically driven nonsense that underpinned the Drug War becomes increasingly apparent and the need for drug law reform gathers momentum, it is important to recognise some of the subtle approaches and ideas expressed towards a drug reform model could well result in Prohibition 2.0. An approach that fails to fundamentally address the fallacies of prohibition, perpetuates the drug apartheid and uses the medical profession and civil society as enforcers rather than the police, armed forces and customs.”  Professor Julian Buchanan.

Civil Society (Activists & NGOs), Law Enforcement and Government all in one room to discuss drug policy, in South Africa? This was indeed the first of its kind, thanks to the TB/HIV Care Association and sponsors. RUN2016 Sa Drug Policy Week had a carefully considered programme that was facilitated by a wide range experts. This was the overriding value that Fields of Green for ALL delegates came away with. Many of the presentations are on the conference website.

Cannabis prohibition and legalisation issues are often the “poor relative” at these events, being seen either as a foregone conclusion or something that enjoys such popular support that it doesn’t warrant too much time during these days of pressing drug policy issues involving all substance use. Whatever the reason, RUN2016 organisers gave Cannabis a side event and the sorry state of the awful Dagga laws in SA were laid bare. You can watch Myrtle’s presentation about forced crop eradication here.

When considering the place for Cannabis in all of these discussions, Prof Julian Buchanan’s presentation about “Drug Apartheid” was most illuminating.

“Selectively privileging particular drugs based upon their popularity, to join alcohol, caffeine and tobacco as commercial products is not the way forward, it’s simply an extension of the principles of prohibition. Granting pardons for particular drugs is a dangerous and uncertain pathway towards drug reform. Instead, we should challenge the very foundations of prohibition and fight for the decriminalisation of every drug as a first step towards a comprehensive process to abolition, once this is achieved we urgently engage in the difficult and complex process to explore how best to legalise and regulate all drugs.”

We spoke to Prof Buchanan after his presentation and it became clear that, as Cannabis activists we have our work cut out for us to be mindful of broader drug policy by insisting that, first and foremost, this is a human rights issue. We believe that we can “pave the way” with our favourite plant. These are very important discussions that need to be had openly and vigorously! 

An overall theme at RUN2016 was preparation for UNGASS2016. We have known for some time that South Africa shows little support for drug policy reform, mainly because of ignorance about the broader issues at hand. This became evident at last year’s Cannabis Round Table hosted by the Dept of Social Development. Cannabis activists attending the meeting were barely given time to speak and there has never been an outcome document about what was discussed or achieved. This time it was different as Maria-Goretti Ane, a barrister from Ghana and representing the International Drug Policy Consortium in Africa, went through the process whereby South Africa contradicted the wishes of other African Union members by submitting a document written by Egypt as the drug policy blueprint for the rest of Africa. Why are we not surprised? Ms Ane was frank about the betrayal and a spokesperson from the Dept of Health was quick to pop up and declare that SA was busy rewording the document. Read all about it here. You can read both the documents (AU and SA versions) on the RUN2016 resources page and see the contradictions for yourself.

As far as we can tell, South Africa will be represented at UNGASS 2016 by our ambassador to the UN, Kingsley Mamabolo, the Dept of Social Development and their “drug czars”, the Central Drug Authority. When we spoke to a representative from the CDA, Dr Evodia Mabuza-Mokoko, and she said that there is place in the delegation for Civil Society organisations to participate. This remains to be seen, as does the hard facts of who is going to be speaking for us at UNGASS 2016. Fields of Green for ALL has ticked all the boxes on the left.

It is short sighted to place too many hopes on big changes happening in New York in April  but we are proud to be part of the conversation. One thing is for sure, organisations from around the world are working very hard to have their voices heard. The civil society events on the fringes of the main Special Session are where it will all happen, the real stuff that is. South Africans must continue to speak up and take note of all the forces for good that are at work in our country. We can assure you that there are many dedicated souls having the difficult and supremely necessary drug policy conversation and working very hard for positive outcomes. It is an arduous but not insurmountable task to shift the thinking within our government. Let’s all work towards that. Fields of Green for ALL!

This is for ALL of us!