Cannabis market, exports ‘can revive economy’

The country’s cannabis industry has the potential to lift the economy from the brink of ruin, provided every effort is made to destigmatise the sector first, says Nqobile Bundwini, a lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

South Africa’s cannabis sector is currently worth an estimated R28 billion.https://fe08fec365db2d00a04dd4d1f681ebef.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

As rampant unemployment, an escalating cost of living and dire socio-economic conditions continue to ravage South Africa, coupled with the result of an age-old stigma, the industry is not given the attention it needs in order to flourish.

This, Bundwini explained, discourages buyers, sellers and potential investors; and that needs to change – fast.https://fe08fec365db2d00a04dd4d1f681ebef.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“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,” she said.

Bundwini, who teaches marketing in UCT’s School of Management Studies, has dedicated much of her research to creating awareness regarding the cannabis industry in South Africa.

“Because of the stigma around cannabis and the history of its illegal status, there has been very little research done on the topic or the industry . Today, we stand on the cusp of this rapidly growing industry – but we don’t know enough about it,” she said.

In a recent research paper titled “Destigmatising the Cannabis Industry”, Bundwini argues that the fast-burgeoning cannabis market is what South Africa needs to revive its ailing economy.

South Africa is one of the largest exporters of cannabis. “We are leaders in this field, yet we are still lagging behind. If we don’t harness our potential in this regard, it’s likely that yet again, western countries will take over our market and resell it to us at a profit,” she said.

Although Bundwini’s research on cannabis found that the industry won’t ever be completely destigmatised, the stigma can be and should be managed effectively.

She encourages the industry to adopt a collective approach and to find ways to collaborate and form a cohesive voice in order to challenge the status quo.

“It’s not just one cannabis business that’s stigmatised – it’s the whole industry. To boost the industry, increase support, create jobs and grow the economy, businesses need to work together,” she said.

Bundwini suggests that the industry makes several improvements. Her first three recommendations, she added, aim to avoid the stigma of cannabis, while the second three seek to eliminate the stigma.

•  Adjust internal structures and operations to mitigate negative consequences.
•  Comply with existing laws and regulations.
•  Don’t hide and advertise secretly.
•  Proudly declare cannabis’ existence and own the stigma.
•  Borrow positive associations and tie existing favourable values to the cannabis business.
•  Own the stigmatised identities and challenge stigmatisers to accept them.

“I believe that affirmation is at the core of reducing the cannabis stigma. The closer the [destigmatising] strategy is to affirming, the more effective it is in destigmatising. And the further it is from affirming, the more it actually perpetuates the stigma,” she said.