The Constitutional Court has upheld that it should be legal for citizens to cultivate and consume marijuana for personal use in the privacy of their own homes.
In a unanimous judgement, the country’s highest court effectively decriminalised the private use of dagga.
BusinessTech.co.za reports the ruling upheld a March 2017 High Court judgement, which said that the banning of the personal use of dagga by adults in their homes was against the constitutional right to privacy.
The court ordered – at the time – that Parliament had 24 months to amend the current drug laws to bring them in line with the constitution.
In the Constitutional Court ruling, Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo did not specify the amount that can be used by adults in private use, saying that this needs to be determined by Parliament.
However, he has given Parliament – again – 24 months to change the relevant sections of the Medicines Controls Act to bring it in line with the ruling. In the interim, adults can smoke dagga in the privacy of their own homes.
Dagga still can’t be smoked publicly and dealing is still illegal.
