Dagga Party supports cannabis market

• Author: Tamlynne Thompson tamlynne.thompson@inl.co.za
• Published date: 28 October 2021
• Publication title: Atlantic Sun

The party believes Cape Town should be proud of its cannabis culture as the legalisation for public benefit would result in an economic boom.

And although there are many grey areas around its legality, the cannabis culture is already showing the potential to become a growing industry.

Supporting this theory is the Dagga Party’s founder and leader, Jeremy Acton and Mr Jansen, who will be running for mayor in the elections on Monday November 1 and for councillor in Ward 115, which includes the city centre, as well as Woodstock, parts of Salt River, parts of District Six, Sea Point, Mouille Point, Green Point and parts of Gardens.

The party is campaigning for the legalisation of dagga as poverty alleviation and believes municipalities should be able to self-regulate regarding cannabis.

They are also campaigning for Cape Town to become a cannabis homeland.

They also want to boost resources for job creation by mass cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes; to promote and enable urban agriculture and biodiversity initiatives; address homelessness by the establishment of regulated, safe mini-home parks; and promote health and first aid against COVID-19, among other things.

“Green gold (dagga) is something I believe in and something the nation must embrace to re-ignite our failing economy,” said Mr Jansen.

In 2018, the Constitutional court ruled that dagga or marijuana was legal for private use in South Africa.

A year later, in 2019, Goodleaf, the leading retail manufacturer of products that contain cannabidiol (CBD) oil, opened its doors in the city centre.

According to the Central City Improvement District’s (CCID’s) state of the central city report, in a review of 2020 released earlier this month, business at Goodleaf showed positive 2020 growth despite the pandemic. Online sales also spiked between April and September, peaking in June 2020.

According to the report, Wesgro has confirmed that production of medicinal cannabis has started in Cape Town. The prospect of a legalised, regulated cannabis industry has propelled investor interest since February 2020, thanks to government regulating the commercial use of hemp products.

While medicinal cannabis is still an emerging sector, projections from Wesgro’s Investing in Cannabis in South Africa March 2021 report suggests that the global legal cannabis market is set to grow by 20% a year over the next 10 years.

By 2023, Africa’s legal cannabis market could be worth $7.1 billion (about R104 billion) a year.

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