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Myrtle Clarke and Jules Stobbs, better known as the dagga couple, are (in)famous for suing the heads of nine government departments after their 2010 arrest for the cannabis possession. In 2017, in the Western Cape High Court, Judge Davis, in the State vs Prince, Acton and Ruben (Prince III), declared that the prohibition of cannabis use in a private dwelling was unconstitutional. The state appealed the judgement and the case went before the Constitutional Court in 2017. The Dagga Couple joined this case as Friends of the Court. At SA Drug Policy Week 2017, keynote speaker, international legal expert and Commissioner of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Anand Grover, referred to the importance of this case in terms of protecting constitutional rights of all people. Another keynote speaker, Professor David Nutt was a witness in the case and presented his multi-criteria decisional analysis on the dangers of drugs, showing that alcohol use was more harmful than cannabis use. At Drug Policy Week 2018, the Dagga Couple will discuss their journey to the Constitutional Court and the reasons why they embarked on the arduous journey they have taken. |