User talk:Mikey Bong

TALK: Legality of cannabis by country

It is factually incorrect that Cannabis has been legalized in South Africa - it remains illegal.

On 31 March 2017, Justice Dennis Davis handed down a judgment in the Western Cape High Court that declared sections of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992 invalid and unconstitutional - these relate to the private and personal use of of dagga (at home). However, he suspended this order for 24 months to allow Parliament to amend these Acts and bring them in line with the Constitution. Furthermore, before Parliament considers the matter, this order of invalidity must first be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

Regular police busts of shipments and dealers of Cannabis continue in 8 of the provinces of South Africa, with only the more liberal Western Province controlled by the Democratic Alliance that largely turns a blind eye. Although this judgment marks a step towards decriminalisation of dagga, it is a small and limited step, which only works to protect the right to privacy.

Some steps have been taken towards this over the last few months. The Medicines Control Council recently published regulations providing for the use of dagga for medical reasons, and a bill to legalise the use of dagga as pain treatment is under consideration by the National Assembly. Parties and businesses associated with the Government are understood to have some limited farming rights, and are tipped to cash in when "medical" cannabis is legalized (possibly in 2018).

Despite widespread use of marijuana by a sizable minority, South Africa is as culturally conservative as other African nations and oppose the use of drugs other than traditional, medical, alcohol and nicotine. The ruling party believes it has far more important, urgent political and economic risks to contend with than taking on the international challenge of "legalization".