More clarity called for on dagga ruling

WHILE it is a step in the right direction to have dagga legalised for household use, the Dagga Party says a lot still needs to be done to clear up confusion.

Last month the Western Cape High Court handed down a landmark ruling where the prohibition of dagga was declared unconstitutional.

Pro-dagga parties, lobbyists and activists approached the court in 2013 and on March 31, the court ruled in their favour.

Judge Dennis Davis and Judges Vincent Saldanha and Nolwazi Boqwana found that the respondents, who were various government departments, failed to justify the limitation of the right to private use of dagga.

However, the judges said, that should not be construed as meaning that the court wished in any way to understate the importance of curbing drug trafficking and the “pernicious and socially destructive activities of drug dealers”.

“The evidence, holistically read together with the arguments presented to this court, suggests that the blunt instrument of the criminal law as employed in the impugned legislation is disproportionate to the harms that the legislation seeks to curb insofar as the personal use and consumption of cannabis is concerned,” part of the judgment reads.

Speaking to the Dispatch yesterday, leader of the Dagga Party Jeremy Acton said the judgment had opened doors for their community. “If people can carry packets of cigarettes in their pockets, why can we not carry weed? A lot of work still needs to be done because we want dagga festivals too.

“We are a cohesive, massive global family thanks to social media. We would like to see weed contribute to the country’s economy and tourism as well because it can,” Acton said.

He said recreational, moderate use of cannabis helped prevent arthritis, asthma, dementia and many other ailments.

“There are a lot of medicinal benefits to the use of cannabis. This is a massive step in the right direction. I am going to plant the herb in my entire yard because I use it to make oil to treat skin cancer and I also smoke it,” he said. Acton said he had been using dagga for 28 years.

The court has now left it up to parliament to amend legislation which will hopefully provide limits, if any, so that members of the public can know how much they can legally carry to avoid being accused of dealing. —