Cannabis public policy reform can be achieved in multiple ways. In some jurisdictions, citizens can gather a required number of signatures from voters to place a cannabis reform measure on an election ballot. That ‘citizen initiative’ process is how many states in the U.S. reformed cannabis laws.

Another avenue is for a jurisdiction’s lawmakers to approve a cannabis reform measure. That route has proven to be more difficult in some parts of the world, but it is how nations like Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and Czechia adopted national adult-use cannabis legalization measures.

A third option is for cannabis advocates to challenge cannabis prohibition laws in court. A noteworthy example of a successful court challenge can be found in Mexico. Another can be found in South Africa. Unfortunately, sometimes courts rule against cannabis consumers and uphold cannabis prohibition, which is what recently happened in Kenya.

Rastafarians in Kenya petitioned to be allowed to use cannabis for religious purposes. Kenya’s High Court determined that the nation’s laws prohibiting cannabis cultivation and use do not violate Rastafarians’ freedom of religion rights.

“Kenya’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act prohibits the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana. Rastafarians had petitioned the court to exempt them from the law, arguing that cannabis is central to their religious practices.” WRAL News wrote.

“In his ruling, Mwamuye said the petitioners had failed to establish the constitutional and legal basis necessary for the court to exempt them from the provisions of the drugs act.” the outlet also wrote. “The petitioners’ lawyer, Shadrack Wambui, said they would appeal the decision in the Court of Appeal.”

Another court decision was also recently rendered in Namibia, determining that a legal claim against the nation’s cannabis prohibition law filed on behalf of Rastafarians in Namibia was too premature for the courts to decide, citing new legislation that the government is considering regarding cannabis possession and use.

“The government is currently reviewing and reforming the impugned legislation. In view of that, this court finds that judicial intervention into such polycentric, policy-laden decisions risks trespassing into the functions of the executive and the legislature. Intervention by this court, before the legislative process has run its course, will disrupt that process.” Judge Claudia Claasen stated about the court’s decision, according to The Namibian.