They are joined by other groups protesting because, while liberalizing at-home consumption, the new law would keep criminalizing use in sacred ceremonies.
by Massimo Introvigne
The problems goes beyond South Africa. New laws liberalizing marijuana and use at home paradoxically continue to criminalize those who grow and consume marijuana and other substances for religious ceremonies (something that is allowed in the United States under certain conditions).
In South Africa, in September 2018 the Constitutional Court decided that private at-home use of cannabis cannot be criminalized, and gave the Parliament 48 months to amend existing legislation.
As a consequence, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development published a “Master Plan,” which resulted—although after the deadline had been missed—in a government-introduced draft bill.
The bill would legalize consumption of marijuana in private spaces, defined as “any place—including a building, house, room, shed, hut, tent, mobile home, caravan, boat or land or any portion thereof—to which the public does not have right of access.” For this purpose, since selling marijuana would remain illegal, users would be authorized to grow in their private space four cannabis plants if they live alone, and eight if their household includes two adults or more.
Violating the law may result in jail penalties up to 15 years.
Rastafarians and other groups that use cannabis for religious rituals and ceremonies are protesting the draft law, claiming it would actually make their situation worse. Contrary to the recommendations of several human rights lawyers and NGOs, it does not include provisions for places of worship and religious groups. Rastafarians and others using cannabis for religious purposes will continue to be arrested, and may even receive harsher sentences.
South Africa allows the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes, but this requires purchasing a license, which is so expensive that in practice only pharmaceutical companies can afford it.
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
