Constitutional Court creates home use and consumption exception

The Constitutional Court finally gave cannabis consumers in South African limited reason to cheer. The Constitutional Court, to a limited extent, created a legal defence to the charge of cultivating and possessing cannabis, which defence rests on such activities being "in private and for private consumption." The full judgment is here.

The state was required to provide evidence of the harms caused by cannabis. The Constitutional Court was wholly unimpressed by the paucity of the evidence produced by the state. The state failed to produce the evidence because it didn't have it. Exaggerations and half truths don't particularly impress the judges on Consitutional Court - apparently.

Thankfully, the Constitutional Court also deal the death blow to the "cannabis creates violent criminals theory" and the "gateway theory". This judgment is a serious obstacle for anyone trying to claim this nonsense.

 

Another paraphrasing of the exception created by the Constitutional Court is - Only cannabis smokers are legally allowed to grow cannabis. Non smokers are not able to claim the limited exemption and are thus at risk of prosecution for "dealing in drugs". 

The decision is not a bad one, however it is only active prospectively. If the right to privacy was infringed in instances before this judgment those cases will still have to be dealt with in terms of the old law... notwithstanding the unconstitionality of such arrests and prosecutions.

The court furthermore did not deal with the direct harms caused by the overbroad prohibition - not least of which are the hundreds of thousands of criminal records - often obtained by young people. 

The court spent some time considering whether they should set the limit or whether it should be left to the judgement of the police. The court decided that it did not want to set limits and to leave it to the police. In getting to this decision the court considered examples of legal judgement conferred in our law. The issue is that the police have no idea about growing and no knowledge of growing. As the police - literally - have no knowledge, their judgment is bound to be incredibly suspect. The court requires the grower to give a reasonable explanation for their grow, and if that fails, a bribe. This opportunity for corruption is unchecked. 

[Apologies for not posting this news earlier. It's not as if it hasn't been in the news. I have been busy... as you will no doubt see.]