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Dagga ban welcomed
28/01/2002 15:39 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The association Doctors for Life (DFL) welcomed Friday's
Constitutional Court's dismissal of an appeal by a
Rastafarian to be allowed to smoke dagga (cannabis) as part of his
religious practice.
In a media statement released in Durban on Friday evening, DFL
spokesperson Dr Albu van Eeden said the organisation saw the decision
as "responsible, sound and based on the latest scientific evidence
about the effects of cannabis ... Such a decision should not be
based on public opinion or political correctness but on scientific
facts".
DFL gave evidence for the State in Rastafarian candidate
attorney Garreth Prince's appeal against the Cape Law Society's
refusal to admit him as an attorney because of his previous
convictions for possession of dagga.
Van Eeden said: "It would have been awkward for government to
clamp down on cigarette smoking while decriminalising the smoking
of dagga."
Van Eeden said the evidence DFL had given showed that one joint
of dagga had four times as much tar as one cigarette, produced five
times as much carbon monoxide, and did ten times as much damage to
the airways.
Cannabis smokers had a nine-to-ten times higher risk of
developing lung cancer.
"... studies have shown that 50% of accidents in the work
place are drug-related.
"Economically it has been demonstrated that the proportion of
those unable to work... are much higher among drug addicts
than among the general population.
"The fact that it may be part of the religious practice or
rituals of some religions would not justify the decriminalisation
of cannabis. Such a decision would set a precedent and would force
government to allow other harmful practices, for example, the making of human
sacrifices, if it was part of some religions," Van Eeden said.
- SAPA
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