A Kenyan court refused to grant Rastafarians the right to smoke weed on religious grounds in a ruling Wednesday.

Rastafarians, who use marijuana as part of their religious meditation, have waited years for the High Court to decide whether they can use the herb under the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

The court ruled that the community had failed to show why the country’s drug laws impinge on their religious freedoms. The judge said the petition was “dismissed in its entirety”.

However, he said the widespread recreational use of cannabis in Kenya suggested the current law was too harsh.

The “status quo appears untenable”, the judge said, and there should be “frank conversations on cannabis and which direction we should take”.

A 1994 law makes possession of weed punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment and a substantial fine.

The Rastafarian community expressed disappointment and a determination to appeal the court decision. “We will not lose hope,” said 55-year-old Ras Wambua, a spokesperson for the Rastafari Society of Kenya.

“We will continue to pursue our rights, because when you see one door has been closed, we believe other doors have been opened.”