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The South African cannabis industry is big business.

It could be bigger, with insiders saying the draft Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill shuts the door where a chance for real economic growth has presented itself.

Aside from the economic impact, there’s also the human element of legalising cannabis, which is perfectly embodied by 32-year-old Kwanda Mtetwa.

In 2011, Mtetwa (below) crashed his motorbike and suffered serious injuries, reports TimesLIVE:

“I was bedridden for eight months and relying on heavy pain medication. My mood shifted and my character changed … I wasn’t eating and grew thin. The whole time the pain continued and I didn’t sleep for days.

Image: Sebabatso Masomo

“I was worried the meds would make me an addict. Two years down the line and they were burning my stomach. I started looking for an alternative pain relief.”

That relief came in the form of growing his own cannabis, which was illegal at the time.

(You may now grow your own cannabis for personal and private use, with the exact amounts allowed still to be formalised.)

Fast forward to 2021, and Mtetwa is a medical cannabis activist lecturing at Cheeba Cannabis Academy, as well as the first South African to receive a legal prescription for medical marijuana.

His prescribed strain is Cheese (a Seth favourite, too), which he acquires from Vaal grower CBD Full Spectrum.

According to Dr Benny Malakoane, who prescribes medical marijuana to patients in need, Cheese is 40% indica, 60% sativa, with a 12% THC level “best taken in the morning as it gets you up and energised”.

So you’re suggesting I wake and bake? Noted.

By the way, how great does CBD Full Spectrum’s CEO Prof Benny De Beer’s job look?

Image: Sebabatso Masomo

Like the ‘Sweets from Heaven’ store outside the cinema in Cavendish, but for adults.

In order to buy his pain relief, Mtetwa has a cannabis permit card with a unique QR code, which can be scanned to access his information.

You can read Alex Patrick’s full TimesLIVE article, including a visit to the CBD Full Spectrum plantation on the Vaal, here.

[source:timeslive]