Ramaphosa signs cannabis bill into law
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, which legalises private use.
The legislation was signed into law on Tuesday, on the eve of the general election, but dealing in cannabis remains prohibited. “Consequent regulatory reform enabled by the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act will, among others, entirely remove cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act,” the presidency said in a statement.
The bill was made necessary by the 2017 judgment of then Western Cape High Court judge Dennis Davis, declaring sections of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act and the Medicines and Related Substances Act to be invalid and unconstitutional in prohibiting private and personal use of cannabis. Davis said that infringed the right to privacy. He suspended the order of invalidity for two years to enable parliament to amend the acts.
The judgment covered cultivation and possession of marijuana in a private dwelling and for personal consumption.
The Constitutional Court confirmed Davis’ judgment in September 2018, noting that marijuana could not be smoked publicly and that dealing was illegal. The court provided a read in provision to ensure that adults would not be guilty of a criminal offence if they used, possessed or cultivated cannabis for personal consumption in private.
The cabinet approved the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill in 2020, and it was tabled in parliament that year.
The law “guides the medically prescribed administration of cannabis to a child while also protecting children from undue exposure to cannabis. It provides for an alternative manner by which to address the issue of the prohibited use, possession of or dealing in cannabis by children, with due regard to the best interest of the child.”
The legislation “will further enable amendment of the schedules in the Medicines and Related Substances Act and provide for targeted regulatory reform of the Plant Breeders Rights Act and Plant Improvement Act, as well as other pieces of legislation that require amendment to allow for industrialisation of the cannabis sector.”
Political Correspondent