Opinionator

My mornings are a ritual – yoga, then a strong cup of coffee and quiet time in the garden pondering the mysteries of life. This morning I was pondering specifically the mystery of what I can call my religion – Coffee and Cannabis.

The insidious, near global criminalisation of the cultivation, possession and use of Hemp and Cannabis and any derivative or product thereof was not a new or isolated scheme. We can say as a certainty that three factors are common causes of the prohibition of this plant.

To some it’s no secret that the environmental legacy of the marijuana industry isn’t very pretty. Prohibition of cannabis and the failed War on Drugs has driven cultivation of cannabis indoors, driving energy-hungry artificial lighting to grow a plant that naturally thrives in the sun.

It is an ever-evolving landscape. Social media control has long been a tiresome road for cannabis and hemp companies because of severe regulations. The social media giants’ “Community Guidelines” have a stranglehold on cannabis and hemp businesses ...

There are times when a perfect combination of circumstances leads to the creation of something entirely new - something that’s a total game-changer. This being the case in the autumn of 2013, when an eager grower and hash-maker named William “Kind Bill” Fenger and ...

The weed talk. It’s no sex-talk, but it’s certainly a necessary part of parenting, especially in today’s day and age where smoking weed is becoming an increasingly normal activity.

It has recently been suggested globally that all cannabis products be made using raw materials grown from GMO seeds. The whole GMO issue is being portrayed in the guise of a campaign meant to enforce usage of the most effective and beneficial quality seeds globally, throughout the industry.

“Sign our petition to help us align our civil rights into a well-balanced industry that can thrive.” – This was our mandate to the people of South Africa, and BOY, did they respond! Not only are hundreds of people signing the petition to align themselves in solidarity with the South African Nation ...

Pharma cohesion with SAHPRA. Pharma Companies are feeling the impact that Medicinal Cannabis has on their bottom line. They will do everything in their power to retain profits and push their toxic drugs. Greed drives the obvious cohesion between Big Pharma and SAHPRA.

A key consideration for market readiness is increasing public access to high quality cannabis medicines that are cultivated and manufactured locally. We currently have a restrictive regulatory framework that makes access very difficult and is in need of urgent change.

Certain forms of regulation are necessary to ensure public safety, but who should design, implement, and police those regulations? “Nothing About Us, Without Us”, is as relevant now as it ever was. We are currently in a crisis where the growth of the industry is being crippled by the slow pace of regulatory change.

Darwinism is ‘the theory of the evolution of species by natural selection’. Basically, the strongest, fitest of a species are those who survive. It is also something I have spent countless stoned hours pondering about. Human beings are a unique species, we have Evolved to value different forms of ‘strong’ and ‘fit’.