The Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 requires registering a substance as a recognised and approved medicine if claims are made around treating an illness. This act governs the operations of bodies such as the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and the Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA), addressing the process from its formulation up to the patient receiving their medicine.
At Fields of Green for ALL we make the distinction between Cannabis for Health Uses and Prescription Cannabis as thousands of scientific studies have concluded that Cannabis is a medicinally beneficial plant, with relatively low risk and side effects for users. With advances in medical science being made all the time, it is important to acknowledge that there is a place for pharmaceutical Cannabanoid medicine. However, the vast history of Cannabis as a medicinal herb begs many questions about access and availability and the acknowledgement of traditional knowledge systems.
This is a questionable process for acquiring Prescription Cannabis in South Africa. Your doctor has to approve it and submit an application on your behalf to SAHPRA, the medicines regulator. Once approved the doctor can prescribe Cannabis for six months only, and the Cannabis must be dispensed by a registered pharmacist. The “pharmacy” / “dispensary” should be subject to SAHPRA inspection, each individual permit must be renewed every 6 months (cost: R300). The Section 21 permits were designed, decades ago, to provide access to medicines for serious or rare conditions that are not available or registered in South Africa. The skullduggery, corruption and general malfeasance around these permits and Cannabis is nothing new.
Although the Sec21 permit is a legal provision, it is a loophole for abuse by many and there are websites & shops appearing where “medical practitioners” offer to hand out prescriptions to anyone asking, which renders the provision dysfunctional. As the only supposed legal way to acquire Cannabis medicine, Section 21 simply screams out human rights abuses and warped prohibitionist regulations, and remains trumped by Section 22, the right to human dignity, which by itself justifies legal Dagga. If regulated according to the scale of harms of drugs (Cannabis is less harmful than cigarettes or alcohol) it should be readily available for anyone wanting to try natural alternatives.
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