South African medical news publication Juta Medical Brief released a report on the Global Commission on Drug Policy on September 16th, 2026. The Global Commission on Drug Policy helps to end the War on Drugs by urging countries to replace it with healthcare-focused policy solutions and published a brief titled Making Children and Young People in Drug Policy: A Child Rights-Based Agenda for Reform. This brief presented data demonstrating that children and youths are greatly impacted by drug policy, whether or not they use drugs, but are largely not considered when actual drug policy is put forward.

Charity Monareng, South African youth advocate and Executive Director of our separate, sister organization SSDP international, was quoted by Juta Medical Brief staff on how repressive drug policy particularly impacts youths in schools,

‘“Government tends to shy away from looking at it and responding to it from a social and health perspective,” she said.

Having a police response to children using or selling drugs in schools, rather than a “social community response”, is one of the problems accompanying the criminalisation of substance use, she added.

“Schools are supposed to be a safe space for children. But because substance use is criminalised … schools may become the first place where young people come into contact with police, where you would expect this contact to be when they are much older or in their communities. It’s happening in the space where they’re supposed to be protected,” she said.’

Juta Medical Brief staff wrote on the intersectionality of substance use as mentioned in the policy brief, and how psycho-social factors contribute to the use of drugs by youths. Charity Monareng was quoted further,

‘“We really need to start looking at substance use from a holistic perspective: looking at not only the person but the surroundings; fixing the social issues; ensuring you journey with a person,” she said.

“If you’re arrested for substance use when you’re young, you automatically have a criminal record, meaning you can’t find a job. If you can’t find a job, it’s a vicious cycle of poverty. We blame the person and not necessarily the situation that… forced them into a life where they have to use substances to cope.”’

You can learn more about our sister organization SSDP International and the work they do to give young people a voice in drug policy reform here!

Read the full article here.