Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
cannabis for private purposes billlatest news & developments
President Cyril Ramaphosa

Green light for cannabis as Cyril Ramaphosa signs new bill into law

The new legislation finally removes cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act

Take it or leaf it: Laws prevent banks from financing the cannabis industry, however changes are on the cards. Photo: Getty Images

Banks can’t finance the cannabis industry

Once the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill (tabled five years ago) is passed, marijuana can be removed from the Drugs Act

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA  SEPTEMBER 18: (SOUTH AFRICA OUT) Members of the Rastafarian community celebrate outside the Constitutional Court following a ruling that the personal use of dagga is not a criminal offence on September 18, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The ruling follows a Western Cape High Court judgment that the possession, cultivation and use of dagga for private use was allowed. (Photo by Trevor Kunene/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Holy herb is a non-issue for most political parties

Only ActionSA, Rise Mzansi and the Inkatha Freedom Party have shared their thoughts on the holy herb with voters

Kenneth King. Photo by Des Erasmus

Durban entrepreneur blazes through legal uncertainty in South Africa’s cannabis industry

The father of two owns five cannabis stores in eThekwini and will soon open a sixth in the upmarket Durban North area

The decriminalisation of adult use in private was a relief to users who allege arrests are low-hanging fruit for police. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Cannabis smokers say police have ‘weaponised’ arrests

The decriminalisation of adult use in private was a relief to users who allege arrests are low-hanging fruit for police

Green twilight zone: Members of several organisations, NGOs and grower clubs protest (above) as part of the Cannabis Mass Action gatherings at the Union Building in Pretoria in 2022 before the conditional decriminalisation of marijuana in the country.
Photos: Alet Pretorius/Getty Images

Our cannabis needle has shifted

The bill isn’t perfect but should be enacted without delay, given the reformative snowball it will set into motion

The South African Human Rights Commission’s discussions with the Rastafari and cannabis communities raised its concerns about stories of systematic and personal violations. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

Grass ain’t greener for South Africa’s underground cannabis industry

The boom in dispensaries and bud shops has seen traditional growers and sellers driven out of business while the government drags its feet

Jeremy Acton, leader of the Dagga Party. (David Harrison/Gallo)

Activist calls on president not to sign ‘malicious’ Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill

Jeremy Acton says the bill violates the 2018 constitutional court privacy judgment

Commercialisation of the trade requires cohesive regulation. File photo

Police agree to stop cannabis arrests

Parties in the cannabis Phakisa event agree to a 30 June moratorium while regulations are put in place

New move to get cannabis master plan back on track

Business and unions are set to participate in an Operation Phakisa meeting from Monday next week

The cannabis industry in South Africa is touted as a potential saviour of the country’s ailing economy. Photo: Supplied

Develop enabling legislation to fuel the cannabis sector to new highs and boost the economy

Its favourable climate, loosening laws, arable land and pre-existing experience in farming and hemp production makes it a formidable force to reckon with

Proposed amendments to the Cannabis for Private Purposes bill allow for the creation of a commercial recreational cannabis industry. (Renata Larroyd/M&G)

Massive breakthrough in cannabis bill

Proposed amendments to the Cannabis for Private Purposes bill allow for the creation of a commercial recreational cannabis industry

South Africa’s “legalisation” laws ration adult home-growers to four female flowering cannabis plants (Guy Oliver)

Homegrown vs Big Pharma: Who stands to benefit from the legal market for medical marijuana?

Cannabis is scheduled for its South African parole on September 18. Kelly McQue’s handy medical marijuana producers’ guide is an opening salvo against corporate medicine’s demand…