Investigative Journalism
In 2012, I was arrested with two friends for smoking a joint I had just bought off a car guard in Melville, Joburg. Now that dagga has been partially legalised, I feel I can come out of the pot closet. On September 18, the Constitutional Court ruled that the cultivation and use of dagga is legal if it is for personal use and if used in private. It confirmed an earlier decision taken in April last year by the Western … Read more
The new ConCourt judgment legalising private use of cannabis should lead to a decrease in dagga arrests, but power still rests with the police. To date, cannabis arrests are one of the biggest SAPS arrest categories. Complete decriminalisation would free up R3.5-billion in police resources. This could be put to good use in combating the worrying 7 % increase in the murder rate, contained in the latest SAPS crime stats. On 18 September, the Constitutional Court ruled that the cultivation … Read more