Page 122 - Daggabay Magazine Issue 9

Fields of Green for ALL • Collectively Reforming South African Cannabis Laws
5.3.2 Wellness Products
Cannabis as a wellness product encompasses
various uses for Cannabis, from using it as a
relaxant to including it as an addition to a medical
regime, without the need for a pharmaceutical
product. Wellness products can range from
ingestible Cannabis products to capsules,
topicals, soaps and other cosmetic products.
As explained at the end of Section 4, currently
“standard and wellness” use of Cannabis is most
wide spread in SA. This begs for the market to
be opened up to adult users in order to allow
5.3.3 Traditional Use (Medicine)
Traditional medicine can be defined as the use
of indigenous plants, animals, organic and/or
inorganic derived materials and substances for
preventative and therapeutic purposes. The
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use of traditional medicine in South Africa and
across the world plays an important role in not
only providing affordable localised healthcare,
but also to maintain a sense of cultural identity
in an era of modern day medicine, driven by the
pharmaceutical industry.
For thousands of years Cannabis has been used
as a traditional medicine in South Africa (see
Section 2: Background, History and Context)
and will continue to do so for generations to
come. South Africa has a large community
of traditional healers who are fully integrated
into African culture and Cannabis forms part
of their medicinal repertoire. The Rastafarian
community is one that needs special mention
78 CANNABIS IN SOUTH AFRICA • THE PEOPLE’S PLANT • A Full-Spectrum Manifesto For Policy Reform
access to safe wellness Cannabis products.
Since the publishing of the Government gazette
announcing the rescheduling of CBD , we have
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seen a huge increase in CBD wellness products
on the market. Wellness products should also
be allowed for distribution within Dagga Private
Clubs. Education around the safe use of wellness
products and best practices regarding processing
of such products are the two areas in which
urgent attention is needed.
because Cannabis cultivation and use forms an
integral part of their religious traditions, yet they
have continued to be profiled and victimised
by law enforcement. Despite the Constitutional
Court ruling meant to protect Cannabis users
and growers, Fields of Green for ALL are aware
of an incident where a member of the Rasta
community was beaten to death by the police in
front of his family. The case is ongoing but we are
yet to hear of any justice served for this heinous
crime. 19
Using the Six Ethical Principles outlined in Section
4, the South African government should not
only seek to include traditional healers and their
medicine into Cannabis regulations, but should
actively promote their importance in our society
as well as increase capacity building for healers
through training and support.