Licencing, permits, unicorns and CompLIEnce – what’s the actual deal here?
Eight years since the “privacy” judgement. Two years waiting for regulations to promulgate the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, removing Cannabis from the Drug & Drugs Trafficking Act of 1992, which states that Cannabis is a dangerous, dependence producing substance, something which was negated by the Constitutional Court judgement. We can all agree that we are all pretty confused with the current situation with Cannabis in South Africa.
First things first. Trade remains illegal (it shouldn’t be, but it is). There is currently no form of licensing or permits for a “dispensary” / retail / shop / private club establishment. They do not exist. No cowboy systems (or attorneys) can make your establishment legal… no matter how much you pay.
We don’t blame folks for believing the wide-brimmed-hat-cowboys that Cannabis trade can somehow be made legal for you. The epic show of civil disobedience we are seeing would have even the biggest prohibitionist believe all is well and legal… The misinformation is also lining the pockets of unscrupulous operators (and our corrupt law enforcement).
What licenses ARE available in South Africa?
SAHPRA Section 22C(1)(b) — Medicinal Cannabis Licence (this licence is for Medicinal and Research purposes only).
This is the main commercial pathway, and the only one that covers high-THC Cannabis.
Licenses are issued under section 22C(1)(b) of the Medicines Act, which enables cultivation, manufacture, extraction, testing, import, export and distribution of medicinal cannabis in South Africa.
This is one licence with multiple possible activities for you to select on the application.
Licences are only issued after applicants have constructed fully compliant cultivation, processing, extraction or testing facilities, which are then audited by SAHPRA against strict quality control and security protocols. Applications can be lodged earlier on the basis of a site plan and site master file, but the license itself only comes after the build and audit.
A nominated responsible pharmacist must be employed on site. The pharmacist must beregistered with the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) and is personally accountable for the scheduled-substance inventory. This is a strict requirement for both facilities and “dispensaries”.
Compliance with Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), benchmarked against PIC/S guidelines.
The application fee is R23 980. That is just to start the application. You’re looking at millions – after construction, inspections, audits, etc and before you plant one seed, harvest one crop or export a single gram.
I feel it’s important to point out the obvious. If you are wanting to enter the medical Cannabis cultivation space, this is controlled medicine and you need to ensure your product is consistent. Every. Single. Time. This is not an easy task and you will fail many times before you reach consistent export quality.
This has resulted in large quantities of Cannabis flower leaving through the back door of licensed facilities. Dumping your stock that does not meet the standards for your offtake agreement (or you don’t have an offtake) onto the unregulated and local market is just kak, illegal, and puts you at risk of losing your licence.
It also undermines economic justice for legacy producers who have suffered under prohibition for over 100 years. By doing this you are stealing from the poor.
DALRRD Hemp Permit (low-THC / Industrial Hemp)
Issued by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development through their dedicated Industrial Cannabis department. 2% THC limit (Highest THC limit in the world).
Application fee from R902, capped at 50 hectares per permit.
Industrial Cannabis was declared an agricultural crop in September 2021, permitting cultivation, sale, import/export (see below) and research.
Import things to factor in:
Seed supply. South Africa is a signatory to the Nagoya Protocol (seed integrity) & the GRATK treaty (Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge, part of WIPO – the World Intellectual Property Organisation). In simpler terms, these protect our genetic resources, ensure benefit sharing, protect us from biopiracy as well as (hopefully) recognise our landraces & Indigenous Knowledge Systems. You can’t just bring in any old seed into the country and do what you want. We have 3 local cultivars registered with the Agricultural Research Council but demand outstrips supply.
THC limits (aka “hot hemp”): When and how are the “regulators” (there are no regulators / enforcers / inspectors for DALRRD Hemp Permits) going to test the 2% limit? In the field? After harvest? What happens if your crop tests too high? Burnt in a series of small fires maybe? How are they going to test it when forensic laboratories are in very short supply and even criminal evidence takes years?
Exclusion zones: Cannabis pollen drifts through the air and that’s just a reality. If you are in an area where “lank dank” / craft Cannabis is being grown, your hemp will pollinate everyone’s sunkissed gardens & you will have no friends left. Internationally, exclusion zones are required.
Sustainability: In terms of sustainability and according to Maron Krings, our favourite Industrial Cannabis expert , hemp should be grown within 80 to 160 kilometres of a processing facility to preserve its net-negative carbon footprint. Raw hemp for export is wholly unsustainable. Hemp is also a very thirsty plant. South Africa is classified as an arid country. Go figure.
Hemp derived CBD products: Under the DALRRD permit route, these still fall back under SAHPRA scheduling once you move into manufacturing/distribution — SAHPRA requires a Section 22C licence for CBD manufacturing and distribution.
Lastly, the Elephant in the Room…
Section 21
Please note that there are (unconfirmed) reports that SAHPRA has stopped issuing any Sec21 permissions and, after the existing ones are all expired by July 2026, will begin law enforcement against establishments using this system as a loophole.
Patient specific access to unregistered medicines.
This system has been available for over 20 years and was never designed for Cannabis. However, because we have no locally registered Cannabis medicine, this route has become another loop hole. Should you need a legitimate section 21 you will need to work with your registered doctor, who will need clinical justification of your diagnosis, history and previous unsuccessful treatments submitted to SAHPRA via their Section 21 portal.
If successful, Sec 21 authorisation is patient and product specific. The specified medicine needs to be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a registered pharmacist within a registered pharmacy. You cannot pick your own medicine / products! Potshops can’t be “medical Cannabis collection points”.
A Sec 21 is only valid for 6 months and an application needs to be made for a specific person, by a prescribing doctor, for a specific Cannabis medicine. This “license” is not in any way permission for an establishment to call themselves a ‘’dispensary’’. A dispensary is only a dispensing counter within a registered pharmacy. Plus, “dispensary” is an American word. In South Africa it is a pharmacy or a chemist.
If you see someone advertising themselves as a medical doctor and you want to check out their credibility, you can go to the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s website. There you will see a red square stating “For the Public”. You will then be able to click on the link to “Find a Practitioner”.
We are also lawfully allowed to ask a health practitioner about their credentials, and to request their HPCSA registration number.
Traditional / Alternative Medicine Access:
If you are consulting with a Traditional Healer or T/Dr or with a Herbalist, Naturopath, or other alternative practitioner, it can be a little more tricky to verify their credentials. This is because there are various bodies that currently regulate / self-regulate such practitioners. The best database is that of the African National Healers’ Association. Please note that there are other overseeing bodies that fall in line with current legislation. However, there are also those that are not formally registered nor compliant with the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007. (Thank you to Bear Consulting for this nugget). It is not, despite hundreds of years of use by healers, strictly legal for Traditional Healers to dispense Cannabis.
With all of this being said, a big fat reminder is that you have the Constitutional right to Use, Possess and Cultivate Cannabis within Private Spaces. A Private Members’ Club is a Private Space, despite the grey areas. There is NO LICENSE available for a Dagga Private Club.Fields of Green for ALL, among many other organisations, is fighting very hard for the recognition of this fact in upcoming regulations. Thank you to everyone who supports us!
There is no need to Lie to get High!
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