The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za / The March 2011 Anti-Substance Abuse Summit in Durban
continued the outdated approach to policy around illicit drugs
in South Africa. It missed opportunities for discussing how to
impact significantly on the health and social harms associated with
problematic drug use and reduce the burden of drug-related cases
in the criminal justice system. The government needs to move
away from the political rhetoric of a ‘drug-free society’ and start
the real work of formulating and implementing an evidence-based
drug policy that learns from the experiences of other countries
around decriminalising drug use; takes into account differences
in the harms resulting from different classes of drugs; adopts a
rights-based, public health approach to policy; and identifies a
single (accountable) agency that has the authority to oversee policy
implementation. In addition, consensus is needed on the short-,
medium- and long-term priorities for drug policy implementation.
The 17 evidence-based drug policy strategies identified by Babor
et al. may serve as a useful starting point for policy development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/18783 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Parry, Charles, Myers, Bronwyn |
| Publisher | Health and Medical Publishing Group (HMPG) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Format | p. 704-706 |
| Rights | Authors retain copyright |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds