The Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 1994 was meant to be gone long ago but it remains on the statute books like an unpleasant smell, waiting for the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 2024 to be ‘operationalized’.  Until such time as regulations empowering the CfPPA are gazetted, there remains a legal vacuum.

“Legal certainty must come first” says attorney Charl Botha of H3 Legal Solutions (pictured here), one of the many stakeholders who wrote to President Ramaphosa calling for the Health Minister’s controversial cannabis in foodstuffs ban to be lifted.

With the President clearly bowing to stakeholder pressure in rescinding the ban, Botha wants the momentum to be kept going and says that the Drugs Act should be scrapped before Government starts interacting with stakeholders.

“Without descheduling cannabis, public participation remains a symbolic gesture rather than a democratic tool” says Botha in his letter to the President dated 6 April 2025. “Without descheduling cannabis, ongoing legal ambiguity continues to stifle reform, fuel illicit trade, and undermine South Africa’s progressive cannabis strategy” he writes.

Botha says Government’s inaction on the regulatory front comes at high cost to stakeholders, financially and legally.

“The prolonged delay in enacting the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, alongside cannabis’s outdated criminal status, breeds widespread confusion. Law enforcement applies inconsistent practices, citizens and businesses operate in a regulatory void, and the illicit market flourishes unchecked. Healthcare providers, cultivators, and entrepreneurs—key contributors to South Africa’s economy—remain exposed to legal risks, while constitutional protections erode in the absence of clarity.”

He says that public participation in cannabis policy is futile under the current prohibitionist circumstances.

“Current efforts to engage stakeholders in cannabis policy are undermined by a fundamental contradiction: soliciting input on a substance that remains illegal under national law is both incoherent and ineffective.

“This creates a hollow participatory process, where individuals and organisations risk prosecution for engaging with a plant they are invited to regulate.

“Such a paradox violates the principles of meaningful consultation enshrined in the Constitution and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA). Fear of self-incrimination stifles participation, rendering contributions speculative and unenforceable. The process excludes those most impacted—rural growers, legacy operators, traditional healers, and previously criminalised individuals—whose voices are essential for equitable reform.

Botha writes that a distinct framework is needed for cannabis.

“Attempts to regulate cannabis solely through traditional medical frameworks are misguided”, he says. “ Cannabis transcends pharmaceuticals, serving health, wellness, cultural, spiritual, nutritional, industrial, and recreational purposes.

“Each use demands tailored, risk-appropriate regulation—not blanket prohibition or redundant restrictions. For instance, smoking and vaping are already addressed under the Tobacco Products Control Act, negating the need for duplicative controls. South Africa requires a bespoke, balanced cannabis framework that prioritises public health, human rights, and innovation. “

This is what Botha recommends:

Recommendations from H3 Legal Solutions and Our Partners

1.              Remove cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act to provide the legal foundation for effective regulation and inclusive public participation.

2.              Develop a risk-proportionate framework distinguishing low-risk hemp products from psychoactive derivatives, informed by global evidence.

3.              Harmonise local laws with international standards, including the UN Single Convention (post-amendment), WHO guidance, and modern legislative models, to boost investment and trade.

“As a cannabis-focused legal consultancy collaborating with public and private sectors, traditional cultivation networks, compliance experts, and regulated entities, we are gravely concerned that the current classification of cannabis as an illicit substance hampers lawful progress, perpetuates criminalisation, and jeopardises economic and social justice goals” he says. 

“While we applaud the Presidency’s decisive intervention in March 2025 to overturn the Department of Health’s ban on cannabis edibles, this action highlights a deeper, unresolved issue: the pressing need for foundational legislative reform.”

Botha has called on other cannabis stakeholders to contact him in the campaign to get the Drugs Act removed from the statute books.

He can be contacted at H3 Legal Solutions Cannabis Legal Consultancy; 

Email: charlbotha@familyfocusedlaw.co.za / h3legal@gmail.com

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