NATIONAL DRUG MASTER PLAN
2012 – 2016
The scourge of substance abuse continues to ravage our communities, families and particularly our youth, the more so as it goes hand in hand with poverty, crime, reduced productivity, unemployment, dysfunctional family life, escalation of chronic diseases and premature death. South Africa needs to address the problem of substance abuse in partnership with other African countries without regard to issues of economic class, race, colour, gender and the professional status of an individual. Substance abuse is a cause of great concern, given the fight to restore Africa to its rightful place in the world. The ability to implement effectively a coordinated, multi-pronged plan that takes cognisance of legal, health and socio-economic issues and is supported by all spheres of government and all sectors of society is key to this process.
The revised National Drug Master Plan 2012-2016 is South Africa’s answer to this challenge. It has been designed to serve as the basis for holistic and cost-effective strategies to reduce the demand for and supply of drugs and the harm associated with their use and abuse. Ultimately the plan is intended to help realise the vision of a substance-abuse free society where the effect of drugs will be so reduced that more attention can be focused on raising the quality of life of the poor and vulnerable and of developing the people to achieve their true potential. In comparison with the second National Drug Master Plan 2006-2011, the focus in the revised plan is more on the delivery of interventions that not only are informed by best practices and evidence but are designed to meet the defined needs of the communities in combating the scourge of substance use, abuse- and dependence in their neighbourhoods.
policies, legislation, protocols and practices on cannabis
It is well-known that cannabis (dagga) is the second most-abused dependence-forming substance used in South Africa. The preparation of a position paper on cannabis commenced in 2004 and the contents of the draft paper were presented to a variety of communities and interested parties for consultation in 2010. Since that date however a drastic change has been seen in the approach to cannabis in a number of countries including South Africa and further research has now become necessary.
In addition, at the 54th session of the Commission for Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna a resolution was passed that requested ‘the creation of an infrastructure appropriate to address the challenges faced by African countries…….where cannabis is increasingly abused.’
The research required entails not only determining the demand for, supply of and harm resulting form the abuse of cannabis, but also one of proposing the requisite policies, legislation and practices to be applied by the government and bodies involved in the combating its abuse, as part of the overall strategy for dealing with cannabis. In addition, attention needs to be given to the concept prevalent in certain countries of the legalisation and/or decriminalisation of the use of the drug.