South Africa is making plans to legalize marijuana in April 2017, for health care purposes. A bill was proposed in 2013, by a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party, late Dr Mario Ambrosini.
The parliament health committee accepted to implement the bill in order to help improve their medical innovations.
The medicine is meant to be specifically prescribed for patients with muscle spasm and severe chronic pains.
Speaking after the announcement by the Medicines Control Council and the Department of Health in Parliament last week, Mr. Singh of the IFP said:
“This heralds a great step forward for public access and research into the use of medicinal cannabis. I feel a great sense of relief. I must thank the Department for taking up this issue with such passionate concern for our people. What matters now is that the Department ensures that access to medicinal cannabis will not be restricted to the rich, but that anyone who needs it will be able to afford it, and get it.”
A guideline for the medicine’s usage and growth will be published by the end of the year, and will be unveiled in February next year.
The legality of Cannabis for general or recreational use varies from country to country.
In most countries, possession of marijuana is illegal as a result of the agreement about Indian hemp, also known as hashish, in the international Opium Convention.