Enemies of the nation: How the “war on drugs” has failed South Africa

This article by Former Constitutional Court Judge, Edwin Cameron, first appeared on GroundUp. Judge Cameron argues: ​Drug use is a social and health issue. It is not a criminal justice issue.

The global “war on drugs” has failed. The decades during which it has been waged have inflicted devastating consequences on societies in both hemispheres. These are no longer fringe advocacy assertions. They are an increasingly obvious truth. A series of authoritative international reports has documented the calamitous mistakes and catastrophic impact of “warring” on drug use and drug users. There is a much better way to deal with drug use and dependency: mounting evidence indicates that these are best addressed as a social and public health issue, and not as crimes.​

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