South Africa’s Parliament Makes a Move to Legalize Medical Cannabis
South Africa’s Parliament has made an announcement to regulate access to medical cannabis. The decision comes after two years of deliberation. Few places could benefit more from medical cannabis, because of South Africa’s harsh attitude surrounding cannabis.
It’s particularly a victory for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, which has disproportionately crippled South Africa for decades. About 12 percent of the entire nation is infected with HIV. The rate is higher at 18 percent for children living in South Africa. HIV drugs alone haven’t been able to produce any measurable effects against the spread of the HIV epidemic.
The Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health said that the government will amend the Medicines and Related Substances Act 1965 (MRS Act). South Africa will downgrade cannabis from Schedule 7 to Schedule 6, which allows doctors to prescribe it for medical reasons. Medical cannabis will be regulated by the South African Health Products Regulation Authority. The new regulatory body will have the power to issue and revoke cultivation licenses.
“This heralds a great step forward for public access and research into the use of medicinal cannabis,” Singh stated. “What matters now is that the Department ensures that access to medicinal cannabis will not be restricted to the rich, but that anyone who needs it will be able to afford it, and get it.”
The first move came two years ago with the Medical Innovation Bill (MIB) failed to gain traction in the legislative process. Tragically, Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, the MP who drafted the Medical Innovation Bill, committed suicide due to the chronic pain of lung cancer that he couldn’t endure. Orianip-Ambrosini’s death helped propel the medical cannabis movement in South Africa.
The decision was shocking to many South Africans, who live in a nation where drugs and cannabis are taboo. Locals call cannabis ‘dagga’ and the societal norms are harsher there than in the West. South African authorities were responsible for 42 percent of the total cannabis seized in Africa.
The new regulatory framework could be drafted as early as the end of January 2017 and implemented as early as April 2017.
