Many South Africans across the country celebrated the Constitutional Court`s decision to decriminalize the private use of dagga. Last month, the court confirmed that the law violated the constitutional right to privacy by making the private use of marijuana by adults a criminal offense. In the euphoria that gripped the nation after the verdict, many people misunderstood or misunderstood what exactly the verdict meant and what the legal framework is. There are a few important things you need to know about the legalization of dagga in South Africa before you light your next “joint”. 6. The court`s decision to legalize Dagga does not allow employees to take Dagga to work. Employers must always enforce health and safety regulations in the workplace and cannot let anyone under the influence stay at work. Drug testing is permitted and employees may be subject to disciplinary action. 5. It is illegal for anyone to drive a vehicle or occupy the driver`s seat of a motor vehicle while the engine is running on a public highway under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so driving in the “high” is always illegal. Yes, the court decision legalized the cultivation of plants for personal use in a private space, although it did not specify how much.

If the Cannabis Act comes into force, you can grow four flowering plants per person and up to eight plants per household of two or more people. The proposed Cannabis Act also provides certainty as to what constitutes a private place where cannabis users can smoke “legally.” A private place is defined as a place to which the public does not have access as a right, such as a building, house, shed, cabin, tent, caravan, recreational vehicle, boat or land. Children have also been protected from legal proceedings because they belong to dagga. If that were the case, where are all these problem cannabis users, whether teenagers or adults? There are millions and millions of Dagga users in South Africa. Why aren`t clinics full of regular cannabis users? It costs R3.5 billion a year to monitor cannabis prohibition. If this money were invested in health services to deal with problematic users, the answer would be no. There is no burden on the health care system for cannabis use in the country. As I said, Dagga users are usually healthy people. The bill is currently awaiting Cabinet approval before being introduced in Parliament and will be available for public comment by September 2020. Until regulation is legal, South African law enforcement authorities have the discretion to decide whether the amount of cannabis in a person`s possession exceeds what is required for private use. CBD or cannabidiol is legal in South Africa.

The Ministry of Health announced in May 2019 that CBD products can be purchased legally as long as they do not exceed the maximum daily dose of 20 milligrams and sellers do not claim to treat or cure a specific disease. You can buy a range of CBD products at online pharmacies like Zootly and Good Leaf, as well as physical stores like Puff Puff Pass. Legal limits for personal and legal home use are set as follows: When testing for drugs (e.g., urine test), many believe (wrongly) that urine is tested for THC. So you can`t test THC that way. THC must be metabolized by the liver, and what`s left after is a completely inert chemical called THC-COOH. Since it has already been metabolized (used), this chemical actually only indicates the use of this substance (THC) within a prescribed embargo period. The test stops at a certain point and can really only test for levels above 50 ng/ml, which means you can test positive up to 90 days after the last use (taking into account certain factors). This is the latest case where someone brought their employer to the CCMA and won. The following is a summary of the CCMA tribunal`s finding. The Constitutional Court gave the South African government and Parliament 2 years after their judgment time to formalize the various ambiguities that were not addressed in the decision. This means that the rules and regulations are not yet defined and that now more than ever, we must focus on achieving real and practical legalisation that is accessible and beneficial for all South Africans. The possession of commercial and “marketable” quantities of Dagga would remain criminal if the law were passed in its current form.

Companies and certain types of workplaces have policies that govern employee behaviour regarding substance use. Some have a “zero tolerance” policy for drug use, even legal substances like cannabis. Employees may undergo random drug tests (provided the company conducts them in accordance with labor laws). Occupations in the education, medicine, and mining sectors may have much stricter guidelines for the legal use of alcohol and cannabis. Such guidelines often exist when employees need to operate, control or work with heavy machinery. For example, in mines, machine operators, engineers, and health and safety officers have a “zero tolerance” policy, even for off-duty consumption activities due to the potentially hazardous nature of the work and the high stakes of poisoning or residual poisoning. As an intern or as part of a work-study program at a mine site, you too would be randomly tested. Having cannabis in your system, even if it was used a few days ago, can result in disciplinary action. It should be noted that tests to detect cannabis in the system identify the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which can remain in the system for a long time after consumption.

For new cannabis users, THC leaves the system after a few days, but for regular users, the compound gradually builds up and remains detectable for much longer periods after actual use. According to Xolani Fihla of the Johannesburg Metro Police, the person will be arrested and the Dagga will be recorded as evidence if someone is found in possession of Dagga beyond what the law allows. As South Africa enters its second recession in a decade and Prohibition Partners estimates that the country`s cannabis market will reach 27 billion South African rand ($1.6 billion) by 2023, the tax revenue the South African government can claim from the facility could accelerate full legalization. The rules regarding cannabis (also known as dagga) in South Africa are slightly contradictory. First and foremost, smoking in public near consenting adults and minors is not permitted and can result in a hefty fine or jail time. However, personal use of marijuana in South Africa is legal. In September 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that the private use, possession or cultivation of cannabis for personal consumption is no longer a criminal offence.