"What about cigarettes and alcohol?" is a red herring regularly thrown the public's way by those advocating the legalization of dagga in South Africa
We have heard this statement twice now on national television with no evidence to support it. CYPSA's first-hand experience shows clearly that dagga is in fact a gateway drug that leads smokers into the use of other dangerous drugs...
"Dagga has never killed anyone, anywhere, ever!" Perhaps it is true that nobody ever died whilst smoking a joint, but what of it?
Pro-legalization lobbyists love the word 'prohibition' as it carries with it certain connotations. They seek to remind people of the failed alcohol prohibition in America in the 1920's as if it were the only case of prohibition on record
The fact that we have human rights does not mean that we have the right to do whatever we want. Lobbyists are fighting for their right to use dagga, almost equating it with their right to the freedom of speech and thought
Perhaps when compared to a substance like heroin dagga may seem less severe (you don't have to put a needle in your arm to use it), but dagga is deadly nonetheless.
Sugar may be bad for us and may be at the root of certain ailments and illnesses (we have no problem accepting this as fact and should perhaps even pay closer attention to our own sugar intake), but sugar is by no stretch of the imagination comparable to an illegal drug like dagga.
"WE SMOKED DAGGA' MURDERER TELLS COURT" was the headline of a recent article which detailed how three schoolboys got high on dagga before they entered a man's home, strangled him to death and robbed him.
"Just think of all the money we can make!" say those who would see dagga legalized in South Africa. Alarmingly, this sentiment seems to be echoed by an increasing number of our country's politicians...
Lobbyists claim the legalization of dagga will help to control and regulate the drug, keeping it out of the hands of the youth of South Africa. They cite the regulations and laws surrounding alcohol and tobacco as a practical example of the success of this approach, claiming that it is difficult for youngsters to get their hands on these substances!
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