The dagga problem : a sociological perspective with special reference to the question of social policy

Theron, FranÃ§ois

The dagga problem : a sociological perspective with special reference to the question of social policy

Master Thesis

1974

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Sociology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The research for this thesis was done on a comparative, documentary level, rather than on an empirical one. The issue as to whether or not dagga is physiologically harmful will probably be finally settled by medical and pharmacological study. This thesis does not go into these aspects; instead it attempts to set the development of dagga smoking as a social problem in historical perspective. The research has been done from secondary sources. These include the original works of some of the theorists on deviant behaviour, the reports of government committees of inquiry, as well as commentary on drug abuse in various academic and professional journals and in more popular publications. Special mention must be made of the use of newspaper reports as sources of reference in this study. In evaluating the rapidly- changing problem of drug abuse and social attitudes towards this phenomenon, it is often Press reports that carry the most up-to-date information on current research and changes in social policy. For this reason references to professional journals and other academic sources have in some instances been supplemented by relevant newspaper articles and reports. The validity of this approach is especially evident when dealing with South Africa. For example, the dimensions of the drug problem in the Republic were first revealed in a series of reports in a Johannesburg newspaper, the Rand Daily Mail, which brought home to the public the extent to which the problem of dagga abuse involved the youth of South Africa. These reports contributed directly to the appointment in 1970 of a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the abuse of drugs in this country.