Dagga activists have high hopes to legalise it

Separate court actions launched to challenge SA’s ban on use and possession of the weed

THERE’S no time to space out in a daze for South Africa’s leading pro-dagga activists — they have their hands full trying to get it legalised and to block the prosecution of offenders.

Jeremy Acton, leader of the Dagga Party, and “the dagga couple” — Myrtle Clarke and Julian Stobbs, of the NGO Fields of Green for All — say they are contacted every day by people who have been arrested.

Clarke appointed a team member dedicated to helping people launch stay-of-prosecution applications pending the outcome of their bid in the High Court in Pretoria to have dagga legalised.

For his part, Acton sends people forms to help them launch applications for stays of prosecution, pending the outcome of his high court challenge in Cape Town.

Acton and the couple say they have 26 successful stays of prosecution under their belts, including their own — the three face charges of dagga possession. A further 37 applications are pending.

“We’ve had a 100% success rate,” said Clarke. “Because we’ve been given our stay of prosecution, the high court can’t say no. It is just lengthy and quite confusing for some people, but we try our best.”

Acton and 17 other activists appeared in the High Court in Cape Town this week for the start of their potentially preceThe dent-setting case.

They argue that should dagga be legalised, it could be a lifeline for the economy. Acton said he was confident. “The prohibition of cannabis is a smokescreen against people being able to cultivate and value-add an industrial resource.

“It denies us direct access to medicine, so that pharmaceutical companies can profit,” he said.

dagga couple will have their legalisation case heard in March next year. They have a heavyweight legal arsenal and several expert witnesses.

According to lobbyists who wish to see marijuana legalised, dagga prosecutions place a burden on the prison system and waste money that could be better spent on rehabilitation.

One lobbyist, who did not want to be named, said: “An average of 5 600 people are imprisoned each year for possession. This means it is costing the country R511-million to imprison nonviolent criminals.”

At current rates for first-class treatment, that is enough to send about 25 000 people to a rehabilitation centre for a month.

“Money could be much better spent on prevention, rehabilitation and education instead of punishment and taking up valuable prison space and police time,” the lobbyist said.

Quintin van Kerken, CEO of the Anti Drug Alliance South Africa, has compiled a report on the cost of policing dagga.

Using official statistics released after Operation Fiela and figures for drug-related arrests for 2014-15, he estimated that the state spent more than R3.5-billion to arrest, detain, investigate and prosecute people for possession and for dealing in marijuana.

The issue is also on the agenda in parliament. Before committing suicide last year, IFP MP Mario Ambrosini, who had terminal lung cancer, appealed to his colleagues in the National Assembly to consider a bill that would allow research on the medicinal use of marijuana. Parliament’s health portfolio committee is working on the bill. JOINT APPROACH: Dagga Party founder Jeremy Acton, centre left, is flanked by supporters and Rastafarians outside the High Court in Cape Town, where he is seeking to have cannabis legalised

Because we’ve been given our stay of prosecution, the high court can’t say no