Medigrow CEO Edgar Adams told Business Day's Max Matavire on 6 June 2024 that the company lauded the promulgation of the new legislation.

“The recent signing into law of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CfPPA) by the president marks a significant shift in our nation’s approach to cannabis use.”

Adams said: “The removal of cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act is being celebrated as the most noteworthy effect of the new legislation, which will now unlock large-scale investment in a sector, and especially the industrial cannabis or hemp value chain, that holds great promise for the South African economy and businesses focusing on the circular economy.”

Medigrow recently announced an investment of R1bn in the Coega special economic zone in Gqeberha to set up a cannabis processing plant. The investment will create about 30,000 jobs over a five-year period.

Shaad Vayej is a legal expert on cannabis and chair of Open Farms, an organisation that facilitates and supports direct relationships between lawful role players throughout the global cannabis industry.

He told Business Day that “while the new legislation does not expressly deal with the commercialisation of cannabis, one of the most anticipated effects of this law is that cannabis is now removed entirely from the Drugs [and Drug Trafficking] Act, opening the door to commercial investment in compliant businesses, particularly within the industrial cannabis space.”

With the enactment of the legislation, the industrial cannabis subsector stood to benefit, while the retail sale of cannabis for adult use still remained legislatively out of bounds, Vayej said. While the new law allowed adults to privately use and share cannabis, unlicensed commercial cultivation of the plant remained unlawful.

#