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UCT lecturer points out power of cannabis industry for SA’s economy

Nqobile Bundwini is a teacher of marketing in the School of Management Studies at the University of South Africa (UCT), who has recently presented a research paper called “Destigmatising the Cannabis Industry” which highlights the benefits of it for the South African economy.

In an article summarising the paper on the official UCT website, Bundwini points out that many factors are preventing this industry from growing, creating jobs and benefiting the economy of the country. One of the biggest hurdles is the perception many people still hold about cannabis, its uses and users.

“The biggest stigma associated with cannabis is those negative perceptions about its uses and its effects. It’s the general undesirable picture of cannabis users being unintelligent, lazy, unhygienic, and even dangerous. This leads to discrimination in professional and social contexts,” Bundwini says.

For the last few years private, home use of cannabis – or dagga, as it’s often called locally – has been decriminalised and South Africa’s Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill can be found here in PDF form. While this is obviously a massive step in the right direction, it is a relatively short amount of time for the public perception to change.

Bundwini points out that this short time frame, and the existing stigma, has lead to little research being done and a slow growth of the industry. As with many endeavours the cooperation of the three key stakeholders (government, business and the public) may all hinge on these outdated, personal beliefs which are being applied to an industry which could create jobs in an time of record unemployment in the country.

To conclude Bundwini’s research has these condensed findings:

  • “The industry won’t ever be completely destigmatised; the stigma should be managed effectively.
  • The cannabis stigma can be used to businesses’ advantage, to attract attention and encourage engagement.
  • The industry should openly claim and celebrate its benefits, despite the negative perceptions – affirmation is at the heart of destigmatisation.
  • The industry should adopt a collective approach and find ways to collaborate and form a cohesive voice in order to challenge the status quo.”

Bundwini and UCT aren’t the only ones in the South African education sphere looking into the many facets of cannabis. Earlier this year we covered work from students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) into cheaper ways of cultivating these plants.

[Image – CC NickyPe on Pixabay]

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