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Ever since the landmark Constitutional Court case back in September 2018, cannabis has been decriminalised for personal and private use in South Africa.

That’s all fine and dandy, but a legal grey area has existed around exactly what constitutes an acceptable amount for personal use, for example, as well as other areas that need clarifying.

A draft Regulation of Cannabis Bill was first leaked back in February, but then things ground to a halt more recently, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New ground has now been made on this front, and on Friday last week, Justice and Correctional Services minister Ronald Lamola published the draft Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill.

This has yet to become law, so none of what you read below is finalised, but let’s outline the major talking points.

You can find the Bill in full here, but BusinessTech covers the ‘prescribed quantities’ for private use quite simply:

Unlimited seeds and seedlings;

Four flowering plants for those living alone, or eight for homes with two adults or more;

600 grams of dried cannabis if you live alone, or 1.2 kilograms in homes with two or more adults;

1.2 kilograms dried cannabis or cannabis equivalent per dwelling which is occupied by two or more adult persons.

Outside of one’s home, or private place, the Bill also states that a person can be in possession of 100 grams, so long as that is done in a manner which conceals it from private view.

In other words, you can be in public and have up to 100 grams on your person, but don’t be a moron and flash it around.

Selling or buying cannabis remains illegal, along with smoking in public, smoking around non-consenting adults or any children, and in a vehicle on a public road.

That’s a big no to hotboxing your car in public.

Punishment for breaking the offences listed above can range from a fine to imprisonment of between two and fifteen years.

Again, none of this is official until the Bill is signed into law

Read a more in-depth breakdown of the Bill on BusinessTech.

It’s also worth noting that the Bill, in its current form, would mean that many people convicted on cannabis-related offences in the past would have their criminal records expunged, and many serving sentences based on cannabis-related crimes would be released.

[source:bustech]