Official body in fight to legalise dagga
A team of dagga enthusiasts came together in Chintsa this weekend to celebrate the launch of South Africa’s first national body to fight for for cannabis legalisation and regulation.
The Rainbow Warrior Festival, which started at Tea in the Trees on Friday and culminated in a music extravaganza at The C Club on Saturday evening, saw enthusiasts from all over the country come together to celebrate dagga and everything that came with it.
After presentations from the famous “dagga couple” Jules Stobbs and Myrtle Clarke on Friday evening, the crowd partied the night away before coming together again on Saturday morning for a botanical market which explored the economic and social benefits of the versatile plant through displays of environmentally friendly products made using the plant.
Clarke said the Constitutional Court would be handing down judgment on Tuesday on the status of the decriminalisation of cannabis in South Africa. She said the judgment would clear up whether legality was restricted to private use of cannabis in one’s own home, or whether medical and industrial use of dagga in the country would become legal.
“We are hoping that the Constitutional Court has taken all our evidence into consideration. It is an enormous judgment and it is going to change things in South Africa.”
The festival was also the national launch of the Cannabis Development Council, a national association of people campaigning for the plant’s use in all its forms to be legalised in South Africa.
Durban doctor Jamal Oodeen said the Cannabis Council was rooting for cannabis to be legalised for the many benefits it carried.
“Everyone has a place in cannabis use. People need to be more educated on this and they must use us to educate them.
“We are a body of people seeking to show government the feasibility of legalising cannabis.”
“There are about 60,000 uses of cannabis. Legalising it would open many different economic avenues for South Africa. The bigger picture is the alleviation of poverty it would bring to South Africa.”
Festival organiser and Eastern Cape Cannabis Council member Jason Law said the two-day event was to celebrate a “historic moment”.
“The council fighting for legal regulation of cannabis in the country has been established. We are people from different cultures working together because the plant causes cohesiveness. Look at what it has pulled this weekend,” he said.
Ntsikayezwe Mzansi of the Rastafarian community in Mthatha said societal stigma attached to dagga was holding the country back from fully enjoying the plant’s benefits.
“The stigma makes dagga seem like a bad plant. Research has discovered that it has farreaching healing properties for diseases such as cancer.
“More people should be taught about it so they can use in a respectable manner. People abuse it now because they don’t know how precious it is.”