The President Signed Off on the Cannabis Act Two Years Ago, Today it is No Closer to Becoming Law
It’s now two years since the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act was signed off by the President and it is nowhere near coming into law. That’s because the Act stands in stark contradiction to the government’s plans to create a cannabis economy, and one wonders whether it has a place in law at all.
War on Drugs Update: Central Drug Authority Falls Over and Plan to Fight Substance Abuse Disappears into the Ether
Government’s response to the country’s growing substance abuse crisis has been revealed in Parliament as a shambles. The Department of Social Development has been fingered as the main culprit in the collapse of the Central Drug Authority and the disappearance into the ether of the alleged National Drug Master Plan.
GUN’s Showdown with the State on Cannabis Prohibition Up Before the Windhoek High Court
Namibian advocacy group GUN is using South Africa’s historic 2018 Concourt cannabis legalization ruling, as a key argument in their application to overturn existing drug laws. The Windhoek High Court considers the matter tomorrow with GUN’s application being opposed by the State.
ICS 2026 Will Put Cape Town in the International Spotlight – Use This to Develop SA’s Canna-Tourism Potential
South Africa is well-positioned to build cannabis tourism into its existing tourism eco-system. That’s the view of Sean Hocking, the Jakarta-based organizer of the ICS 2026, who says Cape Town has been chosen as this year’s location because it scenic beauty and its growing reputation as the capital city of cannabis in Africa.
Karoo Bioscience’s Mega Investment in State-of-the-Art Cannabis Facility Transforms the Fortunes of VanRhynsdorp
Karoo Bioscience’s VanRhynsdorp facility looks like a space ship that has just landed in the Klein Karoo. The company, which has pumped R400 million into the facility and is the area’s biggest single employer, has been hailed by the Presidency as a medical cannabis success story.
Malawi Hemp Farmers Face ‘Green Gold’ Debt as Promised Offtakes Vanish and Govt Support Nowhere to Be Found
About 60 agricultural co-ops in Malawi that invested in hemp are facing financial hardship as promised offtakes to the US vanish and government support is nowhere to be found. For many farmers the promise of ‘green gold’ has become a costly illusion.
Kenya’s High Court to Rule on Rasta Petition for Cannabis to be Legalized for Cultural and Religious Use
Kenya’s Rastafarians want the legal right to consume cannabis for religious and cultural purposes. The state argues that any relaxation of drug-laws will lead to more crime and social harm. Now it’s up to the High Court to make that call and a ruling is expected next week.
BioMuti’s Thlopane: South Africa Should be Working More Closely with Moroccan Pharma
Morocco’s pragmatic approach to developing a domestic pharmaceutical industry has catapulted it into an African leadership position. Biomuti founder Tebogo Thlopane writes that South Africa needs to wake up to the fact that Africa’s medicine map is being redrawn by actions, not slogans.
DA Calls for IPID to Investigate SAPS Involvement in Illicit Cannabis Dealing
The DA in Limpopo has called for the Independent Police Investigate Directorate to probe SAPS involvement in the illicit distribution of cannabis. This comes after a Carolina officer was bust by Groblersdal SAPS for a major cannabis haul en route to Mussina.
Namibian Revenue Agency Seized 377 Tons of Cannabis Last Year, Intends Beefing Up Border Controls
The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) has come up with its own definitions of the kinds of cannabis it seized during the course of last year – ‘pure’ cannabis, ‘skunk’ and ‘majat’. All in all it reported confiscations amounting to almost 377 tons during 2024/5.