Daily Junction.mobi portalWorld · July 16, 2026 · Liam Chen · 1 min
Rastafarians in Kenya fail in bid to get cannabis legalised for religious purposes. A world report — sourced from BBC World.
Kenya's High Court has rejected a bid by Rastafarians to have cannabis legalised for religious purposes, ruling that the constitutional protection of religious freedom does not extend to the use of substances that parliament has determined to be harmful and illegal.
The case was brought by a group of Rastafarians who argued that cannabis use is a central tenet of their faith and that the prohibition of the drug violated their constitutional right to religious freedom. They cited legal precedents from other countries, including South Africa and Jamaica, where courts have recognised the religious rights of Rastafarians to use cannabis.
The High Court, while acknowledging the sincerity of the petitioners' religious beliefs, ruled that the right to religious freedom was not absolute and could be limited where necessary to protect public health, public order and the rights of others. The court noted that cannabis remains classified as a dangerous drug under Kenyan law and that parliament had not seen fit to create an exception for religious use.
The ruling is a setback for Kenya's Rastafarian community, which has faced decades of discrimination and harassment over its use of cannabis. Rastafarians in Kenya, as in many other countries, have been disproportionately targeted by drug enforcement, and the prohibition of cannabis has been used to justify police raids on Rastafarian communities and the arrest of Rastafarian individuals.
The petitioners have indicated that they will appeal the decision. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court, where the balance between religious freedom and drug prohibition will be tested at the highest level.