South Africans are setting up ‘cannabis clubs’ across the country – are they legal?
“If we have the constitutionally entrenched human right to privately cultivate, possess and consume our own cannabis, then we surely may exercise the right to freely associate with others in doing so”
Friday, September 18, 2020
The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill provides clarity around the growing and private use of cannabis in South Africa. In its current form the bill is ‘far from perfect’ as it permits and prohibits arguably arbitrary quantities, and creates some curious offences with harsh sentences. ‘Cannabis clubs’ for private use are proliferating across the country as the rules around cannabis remain in a form of limbo, following the 2018 Constitutional Court ‘Prince’ judgement. “Given that the prohibition against so-called recreational dealing in cannabis is here to stay, and that many cannabis users are not in a position to privately cultivate their own cannabis, the bill must by-hook-or-by-crook be read to legitimise cannabis clubs across the vast rural-urban and high-low income divides in South Africa.”
