Victory for medicinal marijuana use in SA
A local cannabis activist says the recent announcement around access to medicinal cannabis is only a small step in breaking down the barriers of prohibition.
Yesterday, the Health Department announced it would soon regulate access to medicinal cannabis for prescribed health conditions.
The announcement was made during a meeting of Parliament's Health Portfolio Committee.
The department says the new regulatory framework could be available for comment by the end of January, and could be implemented as soon as April next year.
Juliun Stobbs - who's one half of the "Dagga Couple" - says they believe in the legalisation of cannabis.
"We are attacking the law from a human rights point of view because we believe it's our right to put whatever we like in terms of our bodies. They can talk all they want about medical properties and who should get it more importantly this is for who's going to play guard and say 'right you're sick enough so have this, but you're not sick enough to have this. We are very interested to see who actually plays guard and who ticks the boxes to how sick you actually have to be to get it. So there's a long way to go in the conversation," he said.
Meanwhile, the IFP welcomed the announcement as a victory for the late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini - who lost his battle with cancer in 2014. Ambrosini had introduced the Medical Innovation Bill to Parliament.