South African cannabis policy is currently at a crossroads. In 2018, the Constitutional Court effectively decriminalized private cannabis use. Since then, the government has continued to grapple with how to regulate this plant and its products, locally called ‘dagga’.
A cannabis bill to clarify legal reforms was recently presented in parliament. Yet, medical and civil rights groups who advocate rights-based approaches remain wary of the ongoing potential for discrimination. They argue it will benefit the affluent and impact negatively on vulnerable communities, who may not have space at home to cultivate the crop and will be criminally penalized for smoking cannabis outside the home.
With a cannabis industry estimated at over $300-billion worldwide, much is at stake. Already, South African boutique producers are navigating legal loopholes to deliver cannabis products to young, urban middle-class consumers. Some government officials see dagga as a ticket to economic growth. This is through agriculture and medicinal products that can be marketed for pain alleviation, sleep and skin care
But, would further liberalization invite “corporate capture” as some development practitioners fear? If so, what will happen to people in rural communities who, for decades, have eked out risky livelihoods by illegally cultivating dagga? History provides crucial insights into the questions of social justice at stake in current policy debates.
Our recent study using police statistics from the mid 1900s uncovers trends in cannabis arrests and seizures, by geographical area. It shows the South Africa apartheid state to have been a pioneer in supply-side drug control strategies, targeting rural cannabis farmers in the most impoverished parts of the country.
Listening to the lessons of history means protecting and promoting the interests of those people who nonetheless developed a thriving national cannabis economy through indigenous knowledge, entrepreneurship and toil.
What police records reveal
From early in the 20th century, state approaches to dagga control were deeply entangled in racist colonial and apartheid policies. These maintained spatial divisions based on race and ethnic classifications. But segregation created conditions that allowed illicit commercial cannabis farming and trade to develop and thrive.
“Tribal” reserve areas were long the protected or undetected spaces for dagga production. These “homelands” were mostly rural territories that were put aside for majority of Black South Africans to live in under various chieftainships.
Officials informally tolerated dagga in “tribal” areas, even after its prohibition in 1922. For over two decades, policing was overwhelmingly focused on keeping cannabis and cannabis smoking out of the white-managed towns and cities.
This changed under a new political regime. In 1948, the National Party was elected by white voters. Even before it passed its first apartheid law, the new cabinet commissioned a formal, nation-wide investigation into “dagga abuse”.
There had been calls for such an investigation since the 1930s, when more people of colour moved into the cities. Liberal activists and welfare officials considered dagga smoking a barrier to progressive reforms, urban security and class respectability….
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