In South Africa, cannabis has recently been decriminalized for a variety of reasons, including the Western Cape High Court`s ruling that its criminalization for personal use by consenting adults is indeed unconstitutional. However, care must be taken to understand the difference between decriminalized and legalized. Cannabis use is highly regulated and can only be consumed privately by adults over the age of 18. While the recreational use of cannabis in the private sector is legal, many aspects of production, processing, storage, possession, transportation and sale still violate the law. We can only have a limited amount in your possession equivalent to what can be consumed personally, which is estimated by law at a maximum of 600 g per person in their private space or 100 g in a public place, but kept out of the public. The consumption of cannabis products is only permitted in private places by adults. Cannabis use in public spaces remains a criminal offence. Providing a minor, that is, a child under the age of 18, with any form of recreational cannabis is a serious offence. In summary, any deviation from the recreational use, possession or cultivation of cannabis defined by law by an adult is a private criminal offence.
It is very important to learn about the legal limits that apply to the acquisition and consumption of recreational cannabis products so that you do not unconsciously find yourself on the wrong side of the law. Depending on how cannabis is processed and produced and how the individual user reacts, it is considered a stimulant, tranquilizer or hallucinogen. Different users have a variety of physical and psychological experiences in response to cannabis, which is perhaps one of the most fascinating things about it. Whatever the individual effect, it has the ability to change your mindset. While some people feel more alert, refreshed and aware after smoking cannabis, other users feel relaxed, sleepy or calm. When participating in cannabis, pay attention to how it works for you and whether the activities you participate in are significantly affected. As with alcohol consumption, responsibility and personal responsibility are extremely important. Some cannabis activists point out that it is only mildly addictive – much less so than other legalized and regulated substances. Long-term frequent use has been shown to lead to potential dependence, as with cigarettes and alcohol.
Cannabis use dates back thousands of years. With its medicinal properties recognized for a long time, it has been prescribed in the treatment of a number of ailments. Before the introduction of Western medicine, the herb was used in southern Africa to facilitate and facilitate childbirth. In India, the Hindu faith was believed to be divinely ordained. Not only is it a hobby that people absorb in various ways, but it continues to be used for therapeutic interventions and religious or spiritual rituals in different parts of the world. Read our blog post on the topic: fieldsofgreenforall.org.za/school-drug-test-punishment-reversed/ Violation of the Drug Act due to the illegal medical use of cannabis carries severe criminal penalties (up to 10 years imprisonment, with or without a fine). Cannabis was completely criminalized in South Africa in 1928 under the Medicine, Dental and Pharmacy Act for political and moral reasons. [5] [16] In 1937, the South African government introduced the Weeds Act, which held the occupant or owner of a property responsible for preventing the cultivation of cannabis or another plant classified as a “weed” on the property. [11] Concerns about the extent of dagga use in South Africa continued to grow, eventually leading to the passage of the Addictive Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation Centres Act in 1971. [14] Under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act of 1992, those found in possession of more than 115 grams of dagga were convicted of trafficking. However, following the adoption of South Africa`s transitional constitution, the courts found that this unjustifiably violated the constitutional presumption of innocence and therefore declared these parts of the law invalid.
[17] “The Pondoland region was synonymous with the supply of cannabis throughout South Africa,” he says. It all started with a landmark court decision in 2018 that decriminalized the private use, possession and cultivation of cannabis. The state has been conducting cannabis eradication programs since the 1950s. Police initially uprooted dagga plantations and burned crops, but in 1980 switched to the use of herbicides, which they abandoned with hand pumps. In the late 1980s, helicopters replaced ground patrols and helicopter patrols dropped herbicides from the air to destroy entire crops in minutes. [20] The following classes of THC that may be used industrially are excluded from Schedule 7 of the Drugs Act: Yes, the court decision legalized the cultivation of plants for personal use in a private space, although it did not specify how many. If the Cannabis Act comes into force, you can grow four flowering plants per person and up to eight plants per household of two or more people. Cannabis grows well in the South African climate,[19] particularly in the Dagga Belt, an area that includes the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal,[11] where it is a traditional crop according to the 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. According to GroundUp, cannabis is “an important cash crop” that “supports entire communities in rural Eastern Cape” that otherwise survive in a subsistence economy. [20] [21] Rural farmers tend to be poor and produce low-quality local produce consumed locally, while middle-class growers produce produce for the rest of the domestic and international marijuana market. [21] Most of the national product is consumed at national or regional level, but increasing quantities are seized in Europe. [22] The bill proposed restrictions on the personal cultivation, possession, sharing and consumption of cannabis by adults and in private (out of sight).
It provides for public ownership and donation (without consideration) of cannabis plants, seeds/seedlings and dried flowers or their equivalents. It also indicates which quantities are considered traffic and commercial offenses resulting in fines and/or up to 6 or 15 years in prison. It still needs to be approved by Parliament and enter into force. [48] In 2012, about 400 people participated,[32] in 2013 there were 500,[33] and in 2014/15 “several thousand” people marched. [34] The number of participants increased to 3,000,[35] in 2016 and 6,000 in 2017. [36] There are more than 900,000 smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces who have been growing cannabis for years.