Dagga, the good green, Marijuana, grass, weed, medical marijuana, dope. These are just SOME of the names used to describe what us South Africans know as “dagga”.

Trial of The Plant

Monday was supposed to see the world’s leading scientific dagga experts square off against each other in the “trial of the plant”. The case was brought by Lanseria residents Myrtle Clarke and Jules Stobbs, the pair are affectionately known as the “dagga couple” and are fighting for the “re-legalisation of dagga”.

The trial was postponed to Tuesday as the state and defendants, Doctors for Life, do not want the case live-streamed. The trial has been seven years in the making and fittingly, the couple are taking seven government departments to court.

This trial has special importance for the couple as if they lose, they will face criminal charges for possession of dagga. The pair were arrested in 2010 as they were growing large amounts of cannabis.

Dagga Trial Live Streaming

Although permission to live stream the case was granted on Friday, Doctors for Life still objected because the people applying to broadcast are “not as neutral” as a media house would be.

Doctors for Life lawyer Helene Davidtsz said “Doctors for Life are concerned less about the live stream‚ but [ are worried] about the use of material after the fact”. She said clips from the trial could be taken out of context and re-used.

The judge is set to give his final ruling on the trial being live streamed on Tuesday at 14:00

You can watch the Dagga Couple’s explanation for the trial below. Below that, you can watch the judge’s decision on streaming and the trial as it takes place (pending the ruling).