SAHPRA in Crisis! Regulator is Failing its Mandate and Medical Cannabis Sector is Feeling the Pain
SAHPRA’s unilateral decision to halt approval of any further Section 21 medical cannabis applications has spiralled into a crisis. Patients are being denied access to medication and service providers face uncertainty while the regulator remains silent.
Shapeshift Alert! Africa Beginning to Look at Integrating Medical Benefits of Cannabis into Public Health Systems
Africa has all been left behind by the medical cannabis revolution sweeping the world. However, there are signs that this could be changing as a new generation of policy makers led by Zambia’s Dr Prosper Sievu, are questioning why Africa is not harnessing the benefits of cannabis for its own people.
African Cultural Heritage Trust Project to Reintroduce Landrace Genetics to the Communities that Lost Them
In the face of growing threats to South Africa’s landrace varieties, the African Cultural Heritage Trust has initiated a bold programme to reintroduce indigenous cannabis genetics back into the communities they came from. Working with Druids Garden, the Trust has original genetic material dating back to the late 1940’s.
South Africa’s Overlooked Heritage: The Rich Medicinal Value of Our Indigenous Landraces
South Africa’s cannabis landraces hold significant medicinal properties that are only just being discovered. In fact, researchers are still determining how many indigenous landraces there are, with the African Cultural Heritage Trust having identified up to 40 different strains across all nine provinces.
Pharmaceutical Society of SA: Section 21 is ‘Unsustainable’ as SAHPRA Chaos Spreads Beyond Medical Cannabis Access
SAHPRA’s Section 21 application process appears to have collapsed and the impact of the bureaucratic breakdown is having a knock on effect beyond medical cannabis access. The Pharmaceutical Society says the sector as a whole is experiencing severe supply chain disruptions requiring alternatives to registered medicine and Section 21 is not the answer.
SAHPRA Quietly Halts New Section 21 Medical Cannabis Approvals, Leaving Compliant Patients Without a Pathway
SAHPRA appears to have halted authorising all Section 21 medical cannabis applications for the past two months. This has created an uproar amongst genuine medical cannabis patients and service providers, who accuse SAHPRA of removing the only pathway to accessing medical cannabis without providing any alternative.
USA: Complications and Confusion are Main Side Effects of Cannabis Rescheduling & ‘Intoxicating Hemp’ Regulations
Veteran medical cannabis campaigner Alice O’Leary Randall is the widow of the man who’s case saw the term ‘medical marijuana’ being used for the first time. Now, 50 years later, she takes a dim view of medical cannabis rescheduling in the US, which in her words is “batshit crazy’”
Cian McClelland: Growing High Quality Medical Cannabis isn’t the Problem: The Real Issue is How it Gets to the Patient
SACHIDA deputy chair Cian McClelland says South Africa needs a clear, reliable, licensed and standardized route to market for medical cannabis. He says licensed cultivators are capable to growing high quality product for South African medical cannabis patients but there is no clearly-regulated pathway to make this happen.
Four years on, SAHPRA Remains in Breach of Supreme Court Over Herbal Remedies
Four years ago, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that SAHPRA had overstepped its powers in regulating vitamins, minerals and herbal remedies as though they were pharmaceutical drugs. Little has changed. This BizNews investigation, by Marika Sboros, digs into what’s going on behind the scenes.
Call for eSwatini to Host SADC Cannabis and Hemp Roundtable Next Year
eSwatini’s first hemp concessionaires have appealed to King Mswati III to host a SADC cannabis summit next year. Joe Mkhabela and Johan Botha of African Hemp Development and Management made the appeal when they met the King at eSwatini’s International Trade Fair recently.