In anticipation of parliamentary hearings on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, the National Assembly’s justice & correctional services committee has called for written submissions from interested and affected parties. Responding to a Constitutional Court judgment handed down in 2018 declaring certain sections of the 1992 Drugs & Drug Trafficking Act and 1965 Medicines & Related Substances Control Act unconstitutional and invalid, once in force the Bill will allow adults to participate in certain regulated activities related to the cultivation and consumption of cannabis in the privacy of their homes.
The proposed new piece of legislation will nevertheless prohibit the guardians of children from allowing them to participate in such activities – and other adults from coercing children to do so. Noting that ‘the link between hemp, as a variety of cannabis, and cannabis (itself) has resulted in several restrictions on the (widescale commercial) production of hemp’, a memorandum on the Bill’s objects confirms that it also seeks to rectify this.
[link url="https://legalbrief.co.za/diary/legalbrief-today/policy-watch/legislation-cannabis-bill-parliamentary-hearings-imminent/"]Full Legalbrief Policy Watch report[/link]