Light up and be locked up

CULTIVATION, possession and use of dagga in Vryheid will still get you hauled to the holding cells, so think twice before lighting that joint in public or at home.

“If you are caught in possession of dagga, you will still be arrested,” warns Vryheid SAPS acting station commander, Lt Col Allan Westermeyer.

This comes after the Western Cape High Court made a ruling that allows for the possession and cultivation of dagga for private use.

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Dagga Party leader, Jeremy Acton, and Rastafarian, Garreth Prince, argued for the decriminalisation of the herb, sending through a successful application to have the prohibition of dagga declared unconstitutional.

In their submission, they stated that the laws prohibiting dagga use are unfair, discriminatory and outdated.

It was ruled that Parliament has 24 months to change sections of the Drug Trafficking Act and the Medicines Control Act that will decriminalise dagga use.

Lt Col Westermeyer says police have not received any instructions in writing regarding the decriminalisation of dagga, and it will take a while before policies are changed.

“Until we have received instructions otherwise, we will still arrest you if you are found in possession of dagga. You will go to court and the court will decide how you should be punished. KwaZulu-Natal has numerous dagga plantations. The largest, I have seen was in the Glückstad area where they were growing as large as wattle trees. Last month, we arrested 36 people for possession, but the sentence for cultivation is much more severe,” said Lt Col Westermeyer.

“I am against the legalising of dagga, personally. It is a drug that affects your mind and affects the way you react to a situation. People do things under the influence of dagga that they wouldn’t normally do. If people are using dagga for medicinal purposes, I can understand, but there has to be strict regulations to control the use of dagga for medicinal purposes.”

Manager of Vryheid’s Christelike Maatskaplike Diens (CMD), Sipho Ndaba, expressed concerned about what would happen if dagga was legalised without being properly regulated.

“Marijuana is not like alcohol, which has to be bought at a bottle store. It can be grown in your back yard. This means that children will have easy access to it. It would be like making alcohol available to under 18’s,” warned Mr Ndaba.

“I am also worried about the criminal element this will attract from across the border. It is illegal there but it will be legal here, so there is going to be an influx of people from across the border coming in to sell dagga or to use it without fear of consequences.

“Finally, I am concerned that dagga use escalates to the use of more potent and dangerous drugs. After frequent use of dagga, you may be unable to reach the same high. That is when people start mixing other drugs with the dagga to try and obtain the same high. As an individual, I am shocked about the decriminalisation of dagga. It is going to present a huge challenge, especially in high schools.”

Children found in possession of dagga are taken to CMD for early intervention and counselling.

Psychologist, Nadine Pillay, agrees that legalising dagga would “open a huge can of worms.”

“I understand that certain substances are decriminalised in order to allow for it to be properly regulated, and that there are medicinal advantages to marijuana, but decriminalising this illegal substance will give our kids the feeling that it is okay to use marijuana, which is a starting point for most drug addictions.

“Adults will use it more openly in their homes, and it will be more accessible. Children who see their parents use it openly will want to experiment. As parents, we will really have to model good values to our children. You will have to walk the talk to win the battle.

“My biggest concern is that we use so many things to escape from our real lives. We use drugs, alcohol, food and sex to escape from our problems, but we are not promoting a healthy mental way of life. We are too afraid to talk about our problems and try to solve them, and now we are introducing mind-altering drugs? We need to be promoting healthy coping mechanisms instead.”

Local cancer patients who have been using dagga for its medicinal properties, are singing praise for the herb, and feel that legalising it is long overdue.