Many people believe the WCHC ruling is a “win” and that the current court case will free the plant. If so, you are mistaken, for the simple fact that the law being disputed is not actually the law that makes Cannabis illegal.
The Drugs and Drug Trafficking under dispute will only allow for decriminalisation. Decriminalisation is good you think. Well sadly, it’s not. Tobacco and alcohol are both still illegal and yet are sold under licence. Any sale without that licence is a criminal offence. This people, is what decriminalisation does for the “Freedom” of Cannabis.
Let’s look at how the Drugs and Drug trafficking Act works. The act needs a justification to put a substance on its own little schedules. There are no scientific or medical organisations subject to this Act which are authorised to give justification for the scheduling. So where does government get the justification you ask? It’s simple. The justification comes from the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, where there are councils, such as the MCC (Medicines Control Council), whose sole mandate is to control all pharmaceutical drugs and to schedule them accordingly to restrict access. They are also supposed to give OBJECTIVE feedback regarding all medicines and substances that could pose a potential benefit, or threat, to your health and well-being - they like to just acknowledge threats.
That said, under the Constitution, the government is technically not allowed to dictate what you put in your body, yet they do so because we do not oppose those ridiculous regulations and controls outside their mandates, such as Cannabis, over us as people.
These councils, like the MCC, are supposed to make sure that all companies seeking to distribute medicine (which are actually classified as DRUGS) to people for their supposed health benefits, comply with safety and efficiency standards to protect our health interests. I wonder how many of you have read the inserts of these supposed “beneficial” drugs? A lot of the time the symptoms these drugs are supposed to “cure” (mask) are direct side effects!!? The councils authorised under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, are supposed to investigate and determine, under their original and current mandate, whether a pharmaceutical substance is beneficial or a threat to human health. Note they have no legitimate authority over herbal substances, but they are in the process of tying up that loose end with the current Amendment Act of 2015.
So the sole authority to list Cannabis as a harmful "substance", and therefore schedule it, or as a harmless and therefore deschedule the plant, falls within the Health Department’s scope.
So, in light of this I can see clearly that those that are working towards decriminalisation only, are really playing into the hands of “big” business, just like tobacco and alcohol. A very few companies will be given licence to grow Cannabis and you can bet your arse they already have their licence applications lined up with the Health Department. Who do you think is driving this mainstream lobby? It isn’t about Freeing the plant it’s about sewing it up for Big pHARMa and Big Tobacco. There are several memes promoting Philp Morris pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes floating around. I mean they are throwing it in our faces and so many are laughing and are like “Yeah, I can’t wait until I can buy my Dagga, like cigarettes!”
WTF people, WTF! Yes, maybe you can grow a few at home soon, but what difference does that make for those children suffering cancer, who will not be allowed access to a known treatment that doesn’t cause secondary cancers or destroy their bodies? What about those children suffering epilepsy? Or those suffering vaccine damage that are in such pain that even morphine can’t help? Whereas Cannabis works almost immediately and doesn’t leave the poor child zonked out of their minds? Where is their justice? Where is their EQUALITY before the law?! Nobody is advocating irresponsible or medically unsupervised use for children, but they are not even currently being considered in these cases.
Until the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act has been addressed, Cannabis will remain illegal. You may be able to get away with a few bushes, and use at home by adults, but is that enough? Is that actual freedom of the plant as many of you believe will happen? Is this acceptable to you? Because it sure as hell isn’t for me!!
Let’s not overlook the fact that this also does absolutely nothing for the implementation of Cannabis Industries in South Africa. We could be growing, that’s right, GROWING a renewable, source of fuel, the cleanest available, year round in South Africa in each community - removing the need for our country to use tankers which are such dangerous vehicles on our roads, as we all know full and well! What about the textiles from Cannabis? Paper? Do we really want Canondi (Mondi but using Cannabis)?
We each need to take a deep look at our intentions for Cannabis. Are we only after self-enrichment at the expense of others? (big business, capitalist(colonial) agenda and the dealer mentality) Or is this plant not perfectly suited to enable each person the opportunity to become self-reliant and independently secure?