Legalising dagga would almost double the number of accidents on South Africa’s roads and cost the country’s economy heavily, claims the Central Drug Authority (CDA), which is opposed to a recent high court judgment paving the way for the plant’s legal recreational use.

“There’s evidence to show marijuana inhibits a person’s ability to respond in an emergency,” CDA chairperson David Bayever said this week. “The number of reported incidents of road accidents in countries such as the United States, in states where recreational use has been legalised, has increased dramatically and that’s attributed to marijuana.”

Bayever said the authority plans to advise the social development department to appeal the judgment in the Western Cape High Court allowing the possession, use and cultivation of dagga in a private place.

“Obviously we will say that it [the judgment] is premature and it [the government] should appeal against it,” Bayever said.

Last week the court ruled that the right to privacy enshrined in section 14  (a) of the Constitution allows for the use, possession and cultivation of dagga in a person’s home.