South Africa occupies a unique position in the rapidly developing legal cannabis market. With a government that seeks to legalize and develop the cannabis and hemp sectors as a sunshine industry and a private and community sector desperately willing to engage, this should be a match made in heaven. Yet the country finds itself in a regulatory quagmire with market forces, both legal and illegal, now in control. Cannabiz Africa is your front row on the torturous journey towards a regulated adult-use commercial market.
South Africa’s cannabis landraces have been touted as a heritage asset but they exist in a legal vacuum. The Rooibos industry developed a community-benefit model for the people harvesting the tea. Could this model be adapted to the cannabis industry to protect landraces?
Stellenbosch University scientists have just had their flavoalkaloid discovery published in Science Daily. Flavoalkaloids are a rare group of phenolic compounds found in cannabis leaves, adding a surprising new dimension to the plant’s chemistry.
Hemp is often promoted as a game-changing crop for South Africa’s rural economy, but farmers in KwaZulu-Natal tell a different story. ARC agricultural economists Lesiba Pertunia Mailula, Noluthando Ngcobo, Blessing Zitha and Siphe Zantsi explain the mistrust, fear, and realities behind the resistance.
The foundation for a legal cannabis retail industry is already there in the ‘Grey Zone’ says SACCA’s Albertus van Jaarsveldt. It’s just a question of unifying operators who want to be compliant into a framework that Government recognizes. Then, he says, there’s a whole new legal green economy that’s open for business.
The African Cannabis Museum is to be launched in Cape Town towards the end of the year to refect the plant’s role in the country’s heritage. As part of its launch, the organizers, who are deliberately keeping their identities secret, have launched a national logo design competition with a ten grand prize for the winner.
May 2 is celebrated internationally as Global Cannabis March Day. Soweto is in on the action and is calling for all Soweto cannabis stakeholders to gather in solidarity at Uncle Tom’s Hall in Orlando on Saturday. There will then be a march to Pieter Roos Park in Johannesburg.
The size of South Africa’s cannabis economy has been under-estimated by most economists, who peg the sector’s value at around R35 billion. H3’s Charl Botha believes this errs on the conservative side and current evidence suggests cannabis could be generating up to R150 billion a year for the country.
Veteran cannabis activist Ras Gareth Prince has turned up the heat behind his urgent legal application for an immediate halt to cannabis arrests. He’s launched a crowd-funding campaign and called for a mass show of support at the Western Cape High Court on 8 June when the application will be next heard.
UCT’s Law School is to host a major international cannabis policy conference at the end of June, bringing together global thought-leaders to develop sustainable and inclusive cannabis policies. The three-day event is open to the general public who are encouraged to participate in the programme.
The South African Cannabis Club Alliance has entered into a formal relationship with Khoisan traditional leaders as part of its drive to build a more inclusive, community driven cannabis economy. SACCA says this is a step towards creating an over-arching compliance framework that should be recognized in law.
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