The South African government has approved the cannabis legalization bill and sent the text to Parliament for reading.
The High Court of Cape Town had ruled more than three years ago that the prohibition of private use of cannabis was unconstitutional, a decision upheld in 2018 by the country’s Constitutional Court.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, said at a press briefing on Thursday that the bill would amend the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which declared parts of the Trafficking in Drugs and Drugs Act and the Drug and Substance Control Act unconstitutional.
The judgment was suspended for two years to allow legislators to correct the affected sections of the laws, he said in his remarks.
Details of the proposal are not yet complete. They require legislative review and a public consultation process before becoming law.
We know that “this bill regulates the consumption, possession, and cultivation of cannabis plants by an adult for personal use. It sets a limit on the amount of cannabis an adult can possess and criminalizes the use of cannabis in public places”, according to a statement by Ronald Lamola.
In the meantime, South Africa has begun to develop its medical cannabis industry and opened up access to CBD hemp cultivation.
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