Nearly five years after the ConCourt decision in 2018, the National Assembly will debate the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill today, Tuesday, 14 November, 2023.
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According to IOL, Moloto Mothapo, a Parliament spokesperson, confirmed that it was gazetted on August 7, 2020, before being introduced to Parliament on September 1, 2020.
In 2018, the South African Constitutional Court issued the Prince judgement, which declared that private use or possession of cannabis was legal.
There have been a number of factors for lawmakers to consider since then, one of which, according to Mothapo, was how the new bill would affect children.
The new bill’s potential impact on children was the reason for the delays in its passage.
The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services is in charge of processing the private cannabis bill.
However, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development urged the committee to consider broadening the scope of the bill to include considerations related to the best interests of the child, according to Mothapo.
‘The bill as tabled and deliberated on by the committee up until its meeting on September 12, 2023, did not look beyond the adult-centred focus of the private-purpose use of cannabis.’
‘The Constitutional Court suspended the operation of the order of constitutional invalidity for a period of 24 months for Parliament to finalise the legislative reform process. The date by which the defect must be corrected by Parliament is September 28, 2024,’ Mothapo said.
Mothapo stated that the cannabis industry was identified by the South African Government as one of 14 priority sectors to secure investment, job creation and support for sustainable rural livelihoods.
According to a Parliament spokesperson, the committee is hopeful that the bill will pave the way for the industry’s future.
‘The committee hopes that the Bill paves the way, as a first step, for the development of legislation to address the regulation of cannabis for commercial purposes.’
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‘The 2018 court ruling provided a reading-in provision that ensures that an adult will not be guilty of a criminal offence if they use, possess, or cultivate cannabis for their personal consumption in private, which continues to apply,’ Mothapo said.
The efforts of Gareth Prince, after whom the ruling was named, were a major contributing factor to the 2018 Concourt ruling. According to Cliff Dekker Hofmeyr, Prince is a practising Rastafarian with a law degree who lives in Cape Town.
His legal battle with the system began when he was denied admission as an attorney due to two prior criminal convictions for cannabis possession.
Prince was unsuccessful in his attempts to persuade the Constitutional Court to rule in his favour in 1998 and 2002.
Since then, the High Court has ruled in favour of individuals who questioned the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Drugs Act and the Medicines Act.
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The High Court determined that the legislative provisions of the Drugs Act and Medicines Act violated the right to privacy without justification.
The Constitutional Court was then asked to review this decision.
‘The court found that the criminalisation of cannabis (and its history) was characterised by racism and that many indigenous South Africans used cannabis. The court also found that the alleged harm of cannabis was not as severe as historically argued. It also makes little sense to allow the use and possession of alcohol and tobacco and criminalise cannabis,’ Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr wrote.
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Picture: David Gabrić / Unsplash