eBusiness Weekly
Two years ago, the Constitutional Court decriminalised the possession and cultivation of cannabis in private by adults for personal private consumption. It was a historic day that left many weed lovers on a natural high.
After the long wait for the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill to be made public, the industry’s hopes and expectations slumped when it was tabled in Parliament on September 1. (The call for comments opened on September 9 and closes on October 9.)
According to industry experts, it’s not what is in the Bill that resulted in the anti-climax, it’s how it has ‘completely missed the mark’ by failing to highlight the business opportunities that lay before it.
Andrew MacPherson, senior associate in the dispute resolution practice at law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said it was expected that it would unlock some financial growth opportunities.
Lacking a collaborative effort
MacPherson said that upon a cursory glance at the Bill, hopes were immediately dashed because of the concern that it had been drafted by the Department of Justice and Correctional Services.
MacPherson said the industry wanted a collaborative effort between the various departments such as health, agriculture and finance.
“The drafters have seemingly adopted a rather narrow and traditionalist perspective in their preparation of the Bill, which as currently constructed, does not give an inch more than was mandated by the Constitutional Court,” MacPherson said.
Failure to see the commercial prospects
He highlights how the South African government failed to use the legalisation of cannabis to render tax revenue to support small businesses — as has become particularly necessary in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic — and restorative justice programmes. The industry awaits the commercial unlocking of cannabis and its potential. — Moneyweb.
