An amendment to the 1971 drugs law did away with its mandatory minimum prison sentences, made fines possible and let courts suspend a sentence in whole or in part. Since 1971 a first conviction for possessing dagga had meant at least two years, and since 1973 not even part of that minimum could be suspended. A court in 1989 said the change let judges fit the sentence to the offender, with fewer limits set by law.[1][2]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%1 → 1
- Personal cultivation · 25%1 → 1
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%0 → 2+2
- Sharing & gifting · 10%1 → 1
- Consumption · 10%1 → 1
- Legal access · 10%0 → 0
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. South Africa's scores have changed again since.
References
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.