South Africa’s top court declares cannabis legal for personal use
Last year as Lesotho began growing weed for medical and research purposes,
Speculations flew in, imagining what marijuana legalization will look like in South Africa?
Now, South Africans celebrate following the announcement on September 18, 2018, outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, delivering the Johannesburg-based Constitutional Court’s unanimous verdict, said the law banning marijuana use in private by adults ‘is unconstitutional and therefore invalid’.
Giving the government 24 months to come up with new ones that respected South Africans’ right to privacy.
“in their private spheres.”
While it will “not be a criminal offence for an adult to use or be in possession of cannabis in private for his or her personal consumption,”the BBC reports,
it would however still not be legal to use the drug in public, to sell it or supply it.
Meanwhile, prior to the ruling, possession of marijuana in South Africa could earn you up to 15 years in prison and up to 25 years for dealing the substance.