Ruling on dagga held in high regard
LOCAL dagga fans are ecstatic about the Western Cape High Court ruling that makes the plant legal to grow and use in your home. In other words, it’s okay to get high on your own supply.
And anyone who has been arrested for using dagga will have their cases stayed until the laws governing the use and ownership of dagga have been brought in line with the constitution, the Western Cape High Court has ruled.
Sandila Bekwa, better known as Chanti, leader of Durban’s Rastafarian band The Meditators, lit a joint in celebration, saying it was an opportunity for people to have better knowledge of “the herb”, which had the stigma of being regarded as a drug.
“They can be used for smoking as well as medicine. So, I believe that everybody who has herbs in their lives has first aid,” he told The Independent on Saturday. “As long as you know how to use it.”
Rastafarian lawyer Gareth Prince‚ the Dagga Party and several others brought the issue before the court‚ arguing that dagga should not be a prohibited substance listed in the Drugs and Trafficking Act.
The court found that laws which prohibit the possession, cultivation, transportation and distribution of cannabis are “inconsistent with the constitution and invalid”.
Judge Dennis Davis, handing down the full bench judgment, said Parliament had 24 months to bring the laws in line with the constitution. “In the interim period, it is necessary to provide that prosecutions that fall within legal provision declared to be unconstitutional should be stayed,” the judge said.
Prince said he felt vindicated by the judgment. He said for many years cannabis users were treated like criminals but now they would be able to be part of the economy. “This is victory. We are elated. This judgment is also good for the police because it means less work for them and more time to focus on real crime,” Prince said.
Durban activist Sheldon Cramer, alias Bobby Greenhash, dubbed “The Robin Hood of Cannabis Oil” for providing people in need with medicinal cannabis, was elated.
He is due to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday for possessing dagga, having been bust smoking on Virginia beach earlier this month.
“I will be using today’s High Court findings to force a withdrawal of the charges,” he wrote on Facebook.
Conviction
In Prince’s case, he was denied admission to the Cape Bar because he had a conviction for dagga possession from 1989 and he refused to offer an apology for his conviction.
He was arrested, convicted and sentenced to a R60 fine when he was a law student at the University of the Western Cape. He paid the fine and had thought that was the end of it, until the Bar refused him admission. He said his use of dagga was part of his religious beliefs as a Rastafarian.
He subsequently became a community legal adviser. In 2012 he was arrested again, this time for growing dagga in his garden.
The Dagga Party’s Jeremy Acton said the judgment was a step in the right direction as it promoted the adherence to the constitution in relation to the right to privacy.
Charl Henning of Fields of Green for All said the judgment allowed for recreational use of cannabis by adults. “There are three other areas that need to change, medicinal use, traditional use and industrial use,” Henning said.
According to the Medicines Control Council, which made submissions to the court, cannabis is classified as a Schedule 7 substance, making it subject to special restrictions and controls.
Dr Jim Gouws of the MCC said in court papers that cannabis affected driving ability as it reduced cognitive skills, and affected respiratory and cardiovascular functions. He told the court that cannabis was a hallucinogen which causes extreme relaxation or hyper-activeness, depending on the user.
“The official position of the government, as expressed by the Department of Health, is thus to regulate the use of cannabis in order to prevent its illicit use and its potentially harmful effects,” the MCC said.