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South Africa: SA's rastas want cannabis to be fully legalised

Lukhanyo Calata

SABC

Saturday 06 May 2017

Around six thousand rastas and recreational users marched through the Cape Town CBD on Saturday. They want cannabis to be fully legalised.

Thousands gathered to call on the Government to Legalise it and not criticise it.

This pro-cannabis lobby says its continued criminalisation is a violation of cultural and religious rights and it also stifles the economy, particularly the health sector.

One of the rastas at the march says, "Ganja oil is good for the people with terminal cancer and stuff like that and all kinds of ailments. It cures alcoholism. It cures drug addiction. I totally support it. I smoke myself and it's just something that I really believe in, there's so many good things. It makes us all happy.”

"So many good things could come from it Like if we swapped making oil based materials to hemp based materials it would contribute to our environment. For I and I's culture man. So I and I can practice our culture more the ganja is a Holy sacrament and for that we burn."

Organisers say in depressed economic times the government would do well to expand on the High Court judgment for a plant that holds so much economic potential.

Johannes Berkhout says, "If you look at places in America such as Colorado for instance after the first year of legalisation it had 12 million dollars in taxes paid from cannabis only. So you can imagine in a place like South Africa that's also pretty big, statistically I can't give you a perfect estimate but it would be big."

It's unlikely this crowd will have their demands met anytime soon, however, the Constitutional Court is yet to confirm the High Court ruling.

While Parliament still has at least 22 months to amend legislation before the possession and/or use of cannabis is officially decriminalised.

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/97863900410b2561bb59ff8dcf0b605f/SAs-rastas-want-cannabis-to-be-fully-legalised--20170506

 

 

 

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