Constitutional Court decriminalizes cannabis for private use

SAfm — The Constitutional Court has ruled that the private use of cannabis is decriminalized. In a unanimous landmark judgment the court found that the private use of cannabis is a constitutional right and that it can be cultivated in a private space for private consumption. Last year the Western Cape High Court found certain sections of the Drugs Act and the Medicines Act which criminalised the use and possession of cannabis to be inconsistent with the Constitution as they prohibited the use of cannabis by an adult in a private home for personal consumption. The Constitutional Court has however not decriminalized the possession of cannabis by adult and children in public. In delivering the judgment, Justice Raymond Zondo gave Parliament 24 months to correct the constitutional defect...