WHO declares dagga medicinal

There are mixed feelings in the South African cannabis industry after the World Health Organisation (WHO) made a series of recommendations, including rescheduling it for medicinal use.

On 2 December, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) took a number of decisions on the international control of cannabis
and cannabis-related substances after the WHO recommendation to delete cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 convention.

Rastafarian lawyer and activist Gareth Prince said the finding was not significant for South Africa, as the country’s approach was more advanced.

“Rescheduling has already taken place in SA. We have rescheduled it from a schedule seven to schedule six, which is less burdensome.”

Prince said they were looking forward to a public hearing after which the proposed Bill would be sent to a parliamentary committee Activist Raymond Meyer from KwaZulu-Natal said the rescheduling of cannabis for medical use was “a step closer to where we are heading”.

He said the impact it had on the South African cannabis community was that they had all the resources to grow and develop medical-grade cannabis, but foreign corporations had jumped in and established themselves on SA soil.

This left out “rural communities that should actually be the ones that be trained to grow medical-grade cannabis, or help build
infrastructure to grow that”.

Meyer’s wife Claire, who is also a cannabis activist, said the fact that the UN is reducing the schedule is “a step in the right direction for us and makes things easier for us moving forward”.

Tony Budden, from Hemporium and Highlands Investments, – which produces a range of hemp products – said the UN did not reschedule cannabis but moved it from schedule four to schedule one.

“Schedule one is still heavily controlled medicine or potential drug of abuse,” he said.

Budden added that by removing it from schedule four to one is recognising the medicinal use for the plant – “which is what we’ve been saying all along”.

Budden added that even it is not completely removed from the international drug laws, cannabis has now been recognised for having medical value.

“It shows the doors are opening and more countries are coming around,” he said.

“It was very encouraging to see South Africa voting yes in approval of all the recommendations by the WHO, which is a good indication of which way South Africa is leaning.”

Budden said what was needed now was for the South African government to take a few steps further by enabling legislation.

“The reality is we’ve missed out on another season because the minister of agriculture was supposed to issue regulations around commercial planting of cannabis or hemp for this year,” he said.

“We fall another year behind in the international hemp industry.”

Budden said it meant South Africa had missed the gap to export. Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said trade in cannabis could be good for the country’s economy.

“We, however, need a realistic framework to regulate the industry and should rethink the legislation,” he said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za

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