John Perlman spoke to the director of the organisation for child law Karabo Ozah about the judgement.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Section 4(b) of the Drug and Drug Trafficking Act which was found to be inconsistent with the Constitution and found that children should not be criminalised for cannabis possession or use.
Ozah said that the decision to lay criminal charges against a child for cannabis use does more harm than good as they end up in the criminal justice system rather than receiving help or treatment when necessary.
We are not saying that there is now legalisation of children being found in possession or testing positive for cannabis. We are saying when you do find them the consequences should be putting them on a programme under laws that already exist.
Karabo Ozah, director of the organisation for child law
She said that the treatment centers need to be enhanced and updated to be appropriate for children and to meet their specific needs in these cases.
Listen to the audio above for more.
This article first appeared on 702 : ConCourt rules criminalising minors for possession of dagga's unconstitutional
