The Ministry of Justice has drafted a new bill which provides guidelines as to how much cannabis people can grow and possess in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The Mail & Guardian<\/a> <\/strong>reports that the bill was developed in response to the Constitutional Court judgement in September 2018 that ended the ban on private cannabis use.<\/p>\n The draft bill – which has not been publicly released – states that South Africans will be allowed to possess up to 600g of dried cannabis<\/strong> in the privacy of their homes for personal use.<\/p>\n However, they will be prevented from selling the drug<\/strong> – either recreationally or for medicinal uses.<\/p>\n The draft document was reportedly sent to the national director of public prosecutions, the department of health, treasury, and other stakeholders in October 2019 with a deadline set for the end of January 2020.<\/p>\n It should be noted that the details of this legislation may still change and that it will still have undergo a public consultation period at a later date.<\/p>\n The government has until September 2020 to bring legislation on cannabis in line with the Constitution.<\/p>\n Hemp regulations\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The government also plans <\/a><\/strong>to open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his State of the Nation address on Thursday.<\/p>\n Ramaphosa said government will formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to \u201cbuild this industry in line with global trends\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe regulatory steps will soon be announced by the relevant ministers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He reiterated that agriculture is one of the industries with the greatest potential for growth.<\/p>\n The Eastern Cape Government has also indicated that it plans to build a cannabis college<\/a><\/strong> as a means of creating jobs in the impoverished province.<\/p>\n The training facility will upskill farmers in the growing and distribution of cannabis, and will assist with seed, fertilisers and fencing.<\/p>\n It is set to be built in the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in Lusisiki, picked because of its ideal growing conditions.<\/p>\n
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