South Africa: Budding Breeders – Cannabis And Intellectual Property Rights

Cannabis News World

Jul 28

South Africa: Budding Breeders – Cannabis And Intellectual Property Rights
CANNANNEW REPORT

02 June 2022 by Ramon Pereira and Louis Van Der Walt Adams & Adams In 2018 the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that personal and medical marijuana use in South Africa was deemed to be legal, with the Court directing the South African government to put in place the necessary legal framework to give effect to the Court's decision within 24 months of the judgement. Unfortunately, the government has been slow to implement the necessary legal framework, which was naturally placed on the back burner whilst managing the recent worldwide coronavirus pandemic. As we slowly return to normal life the topic has been placed back on the table for discussion and action. Currently, however, South Africa is in legal limbo as far as commercial cannabis exploitation for the personal use of cannabis is concerned despite companies already having invested heavily in the eventual implementation of the legal framework. Interestingly, companies like Holy Basil (https://holybasil.co.za) have begun implementing collective growing strategies which they believe are compliant with the Constitutional Court ruling as they are within the legal quota but still allow for the distribution of cannabis products to members (consumers) for personal use. Recently, other companies with a similar strategy have come under fire from local authorities which has also spurred several cases seeking to clarify whether the Constitutional Court judgement would allow companies to grow cannabis on behalf of individuals for their personal use. In September 2020 parliament published the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, which has subsequently been updated and is currently receiving submissions in relation thereto. In addition, the President of South Africa mentioned the "huge potential for investment and job creation" offered by the cannabis industry in his state of the nation address in 2022. These smoke signals appear to indicate that the four-twentieth hour has arrived, and that…