By Steve Elliott   Friday, Dec. 3 2010

​A challenge to the marijuana laws of the southern African nation Swaziland is going all the way to the High Court. Dr. Ben Diamini wants cannabis legalized, and he has also called upon the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade to grant him a 10-year exclusive license to grow “dagga,” as the herb is called locallly.

Dr. Diamini pointed out that in the past 5,000 years, no one has died of cannabis anywhere in the world. He wants to High Court to help him get an order allowing him to operate a cannabis processing factory and set up a marketing company, with all dagga growers in Swaziland as suppliers, reports Mtheto Lungu at Africa News. He said that his factory will then solicit orders from local and international pharmacies.

Diamini said he would involve international research institutions to conduct research on processed and raw cannabis.

Holding a doctorate in education and a bachelor of science degree with a major in chemistry, Diamini said cannabis is not a drug and is not addictive. He said it is neither intoxicating nor poisonous.

Swaziland, home to one of the last pure Sativa strains in the world, is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique.

​Cannabis influences a person to sleep, Dr. Diamini said, but the person is never “unable to know what he is doing.” Diamini said that cannabis is safer than either alcohol or tobacco.

“Unlike alcohol, cannabis users to not lose self control; massive amounts just send them to sleep,” Diamini said.

“There has never been a single death directly linked to cannabis use in 5,000 years of history with hundreds of millions of users in the world,” Diamini said. “There is no toxic amount of cannabis. No animal has died of an overdose of cannabis.”

“It is smoked, it is eaten and it is used as an antidote for cases of poisoning,” Diamini’s affidavit reads. “The question of the risk element attached to the use of cannabis will continue to be a matter for the experts, but irrespective of the answer, there exists no just reason to punish cannabis users or those who grow it.”

Diamini is specifically challenging Section 151(1) of the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Act of 1922.

According to that section, “In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, habit forming drug or drugs means and includes the following as herein defined — cannabis, dagga, instangu, Indian hemp, under whatever name it may be described, known, sold, supplied or otherwise referred to or dealt with, whether the whole or any portion of the plant and all extracts, tinctures or preparations or admixtures thereon.”

The matter is still pending before the High Court.

Swaziland, bordering South Africa on three sides and Mozambique in the east, is home to the Swazi strain of cannabis, one of the few pure sativa strains left in the world, according to OurWeed.

Wellington, New Zealand police will decide Friday whether to charge cannabis legalization activists who pushed a shopping cart full of burning marijuana into the central police station foyer.

Officers will study CCTV footage showing the shopping cart loaded with smoking weed being pushed into the central police station at the height of a legalization protest, reports 3 News.

The protest, part of the Armistice Tour, a nationwide push for cannabis law reform, began Thursday morning with more than 100 people gathering on Parliament’s front lawn to promote the benefits of marijuana over legal substances like alcohol and tobacco.

The protesters gathered outside the Wellington police station about 6 p.m., when the “smoke bomb” was pushed into the foyer, according to Julian Crawford, an activist and candidate with the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

The shopping cart had plastic cannabis leaves on top, with real marijuana burning underneath, Crawford said.

Police seized the shopping cart and escorted the protesters outside the foyer, according to Crawford.

What had been a “vocal” but peaceful protest started to wind down shortly thereafter, Crawford said.

No one was arrested after the protest moved to the police station, but police will be reviewing the CCTV footage to determine whether anyone will face charges, according to Senior Sergeant Shannon Clifford of Wellington police.

The police also seized the shopping cart as an “exhibit” and were “investigating the contents” of it, Sgt. Clifford said.

“Despite the presence of police and parliamentary security guards this morning at Parliament many of those present were openly smoking cannabis cigarettes,” 3 News reported.