The Durban Chapter of the Cannabis Expo kicks off today, continuing through to Sunday (28-30 July 2023). Highlights include the various stalls selling their wares, the Freedom Festival, and a generally good vibe. The Convention Stage is sure to provide some provocative insights into the developing Cannabis Sector.

As always, a few self-proclaimed pioneers will take centre stage, marketing themselves and the influence they have garnered in the Cannabis space as it struggles to develop under the ongoing legal grey area.

Prepare yourselves for a few half-truths and gross overselling of Cannabis potentials at our annual cart before the horse show!

Short on the heels of the recent Cannabis Phakisa,  this chapter of the Cannabis Expo will see a fair portion of the Convention Stage talks exploring what moves were indeed made to accelerate the legally stinted Sector. The official minutes of the Cannabis Phakisa are yet to be released, so do take whatever is said with a few pinches of salt.

In this eternal game of Phakisa! And Wait . . . it remains imperative that you are not swept up by any flights of fancy that will result from these talks.  The word clouds will get denser the higher you soar!

There will of course be those cowboys and queens who will use the Cannabis Phakisa at every opportunity to convince Cannabis hopefuls that the catalyst is near, that things are moving faster than they are, and that development is absolutely being accelerated.

These messages of false progress are most widely spread by those who present at just about every Cannabis Expo. Few seem to recognise that the companies they represent change while their tales of glory seldom do. Illustrious qualifications – real, overplayed, and wholly faked – inflate their chests, only to puff out clouds of catchphrases and technical terms so that no person will dare question their credibility.

A few candid questions usually gets the truth out, however.

So, have fun in Durbs this weekend, and ask some pointed questions. If you doubt qualifications or the potentials being sold to you, ask for a little independent proof.  Accountability is a community effort after all – so do your part and make sure that your decisions are factually informed rather than an exploitation of the knowledge you may lack or the excitement you have for seeing our favourite Plant finally unleashed!