MARIJUANA, DAGGA, WEED, GRASS,
Over the past year President Jacob Zuma has been under fire by several political parties to resign his post because of corruption. There has even been numerous Anti-Zuma protest marches country -wide with tens of thousands of people demonstrating their disgust. Thousands of them marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria with placards reading “Hamba tsotsi” (Go away you thug), "Zuma must fall", "Zuma is a traitor not a president", "South Africa's first dictator", "Stop Him Now", and "Say NO to state capture" etc. Apparently Zuma has a very close relationship with the controversial Gupta family who's been accused of state capture, but its more like a silent coup that took place in South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma has also become quite controversial, yet the ANC backs President Zuma to the hilt and came to his rescue even after he axed Pravin Gordhan for allegedly stuffing-up the R1-trillion 9.6 GigaWatt Russian Nuclear deal that was later set aside by the high court of SA, as unconstitutional and unlawful. Then in a fit of rage, Zuma reshuffled his cabinet by firing several critical ministers and replacing them with his cronies who were "instrumental" in the state capture. It may perhaps be said, "There is method in his madness" but Zuma's action of late is an insult to the legacy of former ANC leaders like James Sebe Moroka, Albert John Lutuli, Oliver Reginald Tambo and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Quite recently the ANC has been accused of dragging the country down and the DA leader Mumusi Maimane said that their party intend laying criminal charges against the ANC speakers who threatened violence against their party. The EFF shares their sentiments of laying criminal charges against at least 10 ANC councillors for leading and fuelling violence against them. My view on this is that the ANC needs to create controversy in order to stay in the news and on the lips of the nation.
Politics is certainly not everyone's cut of tea. The latest political party to drink from this teapot is the Dagga Party, who has been officially registered with the Independent Electoral Commission as a nationally entity for the election processes in South Africa.
Dagga hasn't exactly been decriminalized in South Africa as yet, though there is a twenty four month window for legislation to be updated. Marijuana can still land you in jail though perhaps not in the Western Cape. The Dagga Party will most likely have a huge following considering the hoards of people who partake of the drug in South Africa.
Marijuana goes by many names, among which are, cannabis, ganja, reefer, pot, weed, grass, dope, joint and zol etc. If truth be told, virtually every nationality globally has a colloquialism for cannabis, among which are happa, blaft, travka, petard, chillum, etc. "Dagga" is the South African colloquialism and it is in great demand among all race groups, both men and women from all ages and all walks of life. This makes South African's sound like a nation of junkies, but their demand for dagga is for medicinal use rather than recreational, though recreational dagga cookie baking and smoking dope qualifies them cannabis aficionados.
It is quite ironic that a cannabis plant that can provide unrivaled relief for a myriad of symptoms, ailments and medical conditions, has been outlawed and considered criminal and dangerous by the authorities. Cannabis landed so many people in jail for so many years but times has changed. Medical cannabis research papers generally conclude that ‘positive effects of marijuana on medical patients have been demonstrated; however, further research need to be conducted before such a controversial substance can be fully endorsed as a medicinal treatment’. Yet biotech company GW Pharmaceuticals launched an oral spray formulated from an extract of the cannabis sativa high in THC and CBD to treat Multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity and severe neuropathic-related cancer pain.
Cannibis has a very long and interesting and very controversial history. Before the criminalization of cannibis in 1937, big pharma produced a wide variety of cannabis-based medicines, though cannabis has been used as a medicine for thousands of years previously. With the recent discovery (1992) of the human body's endocannabinoid system (ECS) cannabis was thrust back into the limelight as a viable medicine. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) are both cannabinoids found in cannabis, the first giving you a high while the second doesn't.
For a very long time its been known that Cannabis is good for treatment against Cramps, Sleep Apnia, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Osteoperosis, Parkinsons, Epilepsy, Depression, Migraine, Musular dystrophy, Hypertension, Asthma, Rheumatism, Atherosclerosis, Neurodegeneration, Schizophrenia, Sickle Cell Anemia, Diabetes, PTSD, OCD and ALS. However big pharma gets the concession to legally grow 20 tonnes of cannabis annually for medicine production like Sativex. Sativex is however not available in South Africa and is fairly expensive.
