JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s highest court on Tuesday allowed the private use of marijuana, upholding a lower court’s ruling that found the criminalization of cannabis was unconstitutional.
Activists who include members of the Rastafarian movement and traditional healers greeted the ruling with loud applause. They have held marches over the years to demand that the law be changed to allow people to smoke ‘weed,’ which is called ‘dagga’ in South Africa.
Several government departments, including the health and justice ministries, oppose its legalization and warn of harmful effects.
But in a unanimous judgment read by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the Constitutional Court decriminalized home consumption, saying “the use of cannabis must be for the personal consumption of the adult.”
Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
