SA gets new dagga laws, organisations hail act as a positive step for industry

The cannabis community has welcomed the highly anticipated Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CFPPA) but is concerned about the grey areas that are still not being addressed.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa had signed the Act into law to regulate the cultivation, possession and use of cannabis by adults in a private setting.

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“This will further enable an amendment to the Schedules to the Medicines and Related Substances Act and provide for targeted regulatory reform of the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act and the Plant Improvement Act and other legislation that requires amendment to allow for the industrialisation of the cannabis sector,” he said.

A ‘positive step’

Self-regulatory organisation Grow One Africa (GOA), said passing the law was a positive step for the industry.

Some of the highlights of the passing of the Bill include cannabis being removed from the Drugs and Drugs Trafficking Act which means it is no longer deemed an illicit substance.

“We celebrate the passing of the CFPPA yet acknowledge that we still have a way to go before cannabis commerce is fully legal. Our eyes are on the judiciary for the next steps of development,” it said.

Management consultant Etienne van Zyl said this was a step in the right direction. He said the Act removed cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act of 1992 which enables pending national policy and regulations to be dovetailed into provisions of the Act.

“[Development finance institutions] and private banks will now be able to provide financial assistance through loans to businesses,” he said.

Van Zyl said there are currently no regulations limiting the number of plants or quantities of processed cannabis one may possess in private. This means the previous amounts of 600g/1.2kg per person/two or more persons per household limitations have been removed.

“The Act includes ministerial powers to provide further regulations on quantities for possession and transport… [which] will be subject to further public participation,” he said.

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Van Zyl said while the Act provided protections for children in the proximity of use while enabling supervised administration of cannabis to children by adults for medicinal purposes as supported by a doctor’s prescription, it did not say much about adult private use.

He said he was a bit concerned that there wasn’t mention of an adult use pathway which was the most significant from an economic perspective.

“So, many smallholder livelihoods and mom-and-pop operations have existed for up to 40 years in the illicit sector when cannabis was highly illegal and prohibited.

“Without the support… this legislation might have a broader policy outlook focusing on those two segments [industrial and medicinal use] and adult use as a third, which might have harmful implications for the livelihoods of those SMMEs,” he said.

Shan The Canna Man HiGrow chair, who is also known as Shannon Dalton, said the signing of the cannabis Bill by Ramaphosa marks a small, but significant, victory for the cannabis community after nearly six years of advocacy.

“While there is still uncertainty ahead, this news brings a sense of confidence that we’re moving in the right direction. As the HiGrow community, we welcome any efforts to improve regulations, standards and growth in the cannabis industry in South Africa,” he said.

Aaptwak founder Walter Pretorius said there was more clarity on certain aspects while there were still grey areas in the Act.