“This plant does not harm us!” dagga activist Myrtle Clarke declared as hundreds of people marched through the Cape Town CBD on Saturday.
Clarke‚ who along with her partner Jules Stobbs are known as the ”Dagga Couple”‚ addressed cannabis enthusiasts near the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. A video of their address has been posted to their Facebook page.
#daggamarch in Cape Town. Participants are lighting up. ? pic.twitter.com/BrH1CwMEXV
— Anthony Molyneaux (@AJGMolyneaux) May 6, 2017
She referred to the landmark judgment delivered in the High Court in Cape Town this year which found that the criminalisation of dagga was unconstitutional. The court also found that the ban on the personal use of dagga by adults in their homes was an infringement of their constitutional right to privacy.
The case was brought to court by Rastafarian activist Garreth Prince and Jeremy Acton from the Dagga Party.
Government has appealed against the judgment. There has been widespread celebration of the judgment delivered by a full bench but said Clarke: “You can’t say it’s fine to smoke dagga but stay at home. That is not good enough. We want to smoke this plant where we want to smoke this plant.”
Activist Quanita Booley highlighted that the court gave Parliament 24 months to amend the law.
“The law itself is unjust.. this is why we are here today‚” said Booley.
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