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.
The Health Department wants to impose greater restrictions on the sale of vapes, accusing the tobacco industry of misrepresenting e-cigarettes as a means of ‘harms reduction’. Vaping is getting out of hand amongst youngsters, say public health advocates, who want the Bill to put severe restrictions on how vaping products are sold and displayed.
The anaesthetic ketamine has evolved into a so-called game-changing treatment for depression and its use in South Africa is on the rise. More and more ‘ketamine clinics’ are appearing online offering treatments and cashing in on the lack of guidelines, while recreational use of the drug appears is gaining popularity.
The Western Cape’s CanPlan is taking shape with the province aligning itself with the DTIC in the foundational development of the hemp industry. Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer (pictured here) says the focus is on knowledge transfer and farmer support with hemp varietal trials currently underway.
The DTIC’s draft cannabis commercialization policy envisages the centralization of all licensing issues under one roof – that of a ‘central authority’ that will establish and oversee a completely new cannabis and hemp licensing regime in which retailers will be accommodated.
The DTIC wants to fast-track the creation of financial instruments to support the National Cannabis Master Plan. It wants Treasury to come up with tax incentives for private investors and is to get Government to focus on funding legacy farmers and SMME’s across the value chain.
The DTIC has identified the major challenges it faces in commercialising cannabis. The main one by far is the law. Until such time as crucial legislative changes are made, the trade in cannabis and related products is prohibited. But there are also nine other significant obstacles that need to be faced in implementing the National Cannabis Master Plan.
The DTIC has finally put the missing piece in the National Cannabis Master Plan jigsaw puzzle and has completed the picture of what South Africa can expect by way of a commercial cannabis framework. The DTIC has now put out for public comment its draft recommendations on the way forward and the framework it envisages.
The adoption of a commercial cannabis framework is to be put through the Nedlac process before a new law comes into force in 2027. That’s the DTIC’s time-frame for a complete overhaul of current cannabis laws which it’s laid out in its draft commercialization policy that is now out for stakeholder comment.
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau (pictured here) is the first cabinet minister to fully back the legalization of general adult-use cannabis consumption since the days of Tito Mboweni. He says ‘recreational use’ is less harmful than alcohol and minors can be protected through regulation and wants your input on the draft cannabis commercial guidelines his Department has put out for public comment.
DTIC Director General Simphiwe Hamilton (pictured here) is guiding cannabis policy development within the department which is the lead institution driving the National Cannabis Master Plan. He says cannabis is part of the Government’s ‘re-imagining’ of industrial policy and provides an executive summary of the draft policy document put out for comment.
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