The significance of the use of ganja as a religious ritual in the Rastafari movement (original) (raw)

‘Rastafari and Cannabis: Framing a Criminal Law Exemption’

Ecclesiastical Law Journal, 2010

Rastafari cannabis use presents a challenge in reconciling the doctrines of freedom of religion and the criminal law. Hitherto, the domestic courts have not resolved this clash in favour of religion, displaying reluctance to explore the doctrinal limits of religious freedom. This has occurred at a time of increasing Rastafari numbers across the United Kingdom, forcing some followers to choose between adherence to either their religion or generally applicable criminal laws. Such ‘choice’ inhibits the development of domestic religious freedoms where they conflict with criminal laws protecting wider societal and communitarian interests. This dilemma could be addressed through a statutory exemption in England and Wales from domestic anti-drugs legislation for purposes of religious manifestation. This paper examines the difficult balance between the criminal law and Rastafari cannabis claims in the relevant jurisprudence. A comparative analysis highlights that treatment of religious freedom in Rastafari cannabis case law outlines not only doctrinal scope for a domestic religious drug-use exemption, but also some ways in which regulation could be practically framed. Other jurisdictions' attitudes to non-religious recreational drug use are also instructive in this task.

Control and Regulation of the Use of Marijuana in South Africa

Several pressing issues such as abortion and death penalty have arisen throughout the time, the controversies surrounding those issues have been addressed and decisions have been made. Regulating the use and cultivation of marijuana continues to be a challenge to the different sectors of our society, of which not enough has been done to deal with the perpetual confusion and distortion surrounding it; “the control and regulation of the use of marijuana in South Africa”.

The Constitutional Protection of Minority Religious Rights in Malawi: The Case of Rastafari Students

Journal of African Law, 2008

In Malawi, Rastafari students are prevented from attending public schools on account of their dreadlocks. This article seeks to analyse a framework for assessing whether Rastafari qualifies as a religion under section 33 of the Constitution of Malawi. The article argues that Rastafari is a recognized religion and that its sincere adherents should have full protection under the Constitution of Malawi, as do members of other religious groups. The article discusses potential problems for Rastafari litigants in Malawi and proposes some solutions. It introduces a three prong balancing test, which has been applied in particular cases in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and makes recommendations about future interpretation of the Constitution of Malawi using this test. It examines the current interpretation of the freedom of religion in Malawi and concludes with an argument for Malawi to follow the approach taken in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

THE LEGALISATION AND DECRIMINALISATION OF MARIJUANA (DAGGA): A REVIEW OF AMERICAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCES

Acta Criminologica Southern African Journal of Criminology, 2015

This article is a review of the efforts in the USA and South Africa for the legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana (cannabis/dagga) and its use for both medical and recreational purposes. It outlines the arguments, as developed largely in the USA, for and against this legalisation and decriminalisation of this so-called 'soft' drug., In South Africa, where this process has made scant headway, the article traces this struggle, firstly, the Prince case that took this fight all the way to the Constitutional Court; and secondly, the initiative by Mario Oriani-Ambrosini in early 2014, to get Parliamentary approval for the medical use of marijuana in South Africa by means of the Medical Innovation Bill. The article also traces the delays and eventual indefinite postponement of enacting the Bill.

Law and Religious Diversity: How South African Courts Distinguish Religion, Witchcraft and Culture

Critical Analysis of Religious Diversity, 2018

In this chapter, I explore how in post-apartheid South Africa religious diver- sity is defined, regulated and constituted in the medium of the law. For centu- ries, for many South Africans living side-by-side with adherents of other faiths has been an experience of everyday life. Religious diversity rarely raised the spectres of a politics of difference simply because the politics of racial differ- ence, and racist oppression relegated all other forms and categories of cultural membership and identification to a subordinated status. Simultaneously white supremacy implied and was, to important degrees, based on the oppression of Africans’ culture and traditions. Enfolded in this system of material and cul- tural domination was the idea that contestations over the meanings of “reli- gion” and “culture”, of “tradition” and “custom” had been historically settled. As even superficial observers of South African cultural life would be able to as- certain, Africans had “tradition” (as in “traditional leadership” and “traditional healing”) and “customs” (as in “customary law” and “customary marriages”) but not religion because in the dominant view and despite the increasing circula- tion of the term African Traditional Religion this term chiefly referred to world religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But how is religion defined and recognized in post-revolutionary South Africa?

Religious Recognition: Emerging Jurisprudence in South Africa,

This paper examines the emerging jurisprudence with respect to religion in South Africa. The paper submits that South African jurisprudence has matured and will likely shape the jurisprudential trend in Southern Africa. The paper briefl y discusses the history of the religious freedom under the apartheid government of South Africa, and argues that the laws passed during apartheid government were inclined towards Christian religious values and that to some extent this has persisted in post-apartheid jurisprudence. The paper also discusses the current judicial interpretations of the freedom of religion under the South African Constitution. In this regard, the paper examines the decisions in Prince, Pillay and Popcru, and their impact on human rights and the transformative agenda of the South African society.