Cannabis should be legalised in Namibia and people imprisoned for possessing dagga should be freed, two leading members of an organisation advocating the legalisation of dagga want the High Court to order, writes Werner Menges for The Namibian.
A lawsuit in which the president of the organisations Ganja Users of Namibia (Gun) and Rastafari United Front(RUF), Brian Jaftha, and Gun secretary general Borro Ndungula want the prohibition on the possession of cannabis to be declared unconstitutional, has now been filed at the Windhoek High Court by their lawyer Kadhila Amoomo.
Jaftha and Ndungula are suing the government, the country's prosecutor general, the inspector general of the Namibian Police, the minister of justice and the minister of health and social services.
According to The Namibian story published on 6 September 2021, the two men say in their claim that they are charged in pending cannabis-related cases in Windhoek, with Jaftha facing charges in two matters, and Ndungula charged in eight cases.
They also say they are taking the legal action for their own rights to use dagga, to challenge the constitutionality of all laws prohibiting dagga in Namibia, and in defence of the charges against themselves.
Apart from asking the court to declare that legislation prohibiting the possession and use of cannabis is invalid because it is inconsistent with the Constitution, they want all mention of cannabis to be removed from the Abuse of Dependence-Producing Substances and Rehabilitation Centres Act of 1971.
Also, Jaftha and Ndungula wans people presently imprisoned for the use or possession of cannabis to be released from jail, and the criminal records of everyone previously convicted of possessing cannabis in Namibia to be wiped clean.
They further want the court to order that the prosecution in their pending matters should be stopped.
The defendants in the matter have not yet given notice that they would oppose the claim.
See the link to the full article in The Namibian below.
Story in The Namibian – Lawsuit filed to legalise dagga (Open access)
See also from the MedicalBrief archives
Namibia sets tup task force to consider cannabis legalisation
Moves on medical cannabis legalisation divide Africa
Experts push for legal regulation of drugs in South Africa
Expert opinion divided over health impacts as SA legalises dagga