Today is the happiest day of my life...ii can now start to smell true freedoms coming...Praise JAH Rastafari

MY FINAL MCC RESPONSE

RESPONSE TO MCC GUIDELINES FOR CANNABIS MEDICINE MARCH 2017

ISSUED ON AN ENTIRELY WITHOUT PREJUDICE OR ADMISSION OF ANY GUILT OR LIABILITY BASIS

Firstly ii do give thanks for this opportunity to engage in discussion about the future of Cannabis Medicine in South Africa.

1.  AUTHORISED PRESCRIBERS/MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Registered doctors may now apply to MCC for permission to access and prescribe Cannabis Medicine.

This is a positive step in the right direction because as we know this legal medical provision has actually been in place for some time, but as we also know that only a very few people were actually able to get such a prescription.

The very first question the public would wish to know is how will our Medical Practitioners’ become educated in psychopharmacology and Cannabis Medicine in order to make conscious medical decisions?

So we are concerned as to whether doctors’ higher education is a consideration?

Many of us have long believed that doctors will eventually learn about Cannabis Medicine from their patients so now we see the law making provision for sick people to pay steep fees for the privilege of being prescribed a herbal remedy which they could easily grow themselves by a doctor who has possibly and likely never studied Cannabis Medicine or psychopharmacology.

The reality of this medicine is that for the majority of conditions proven and accepted to be treated with Cannabis for over 5000 years like pain, inflammation, menstrual pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting it is most effective when smoked and this is the delivery system which doctors will most likely have a moral and ethical issue with.

These conditions also affect the majority of our population especially women from as young as 12 years old.

 “Cannabis products intended for medicinal use may thus be made available:

In exceptional circumstances

In conditions where other treatments have failed

To specific patients under medical supervision “

This reminds of a press statement issued by the Italian Minister of Health a few years ago where he stated proudly that they “would decide who was sick enough to get this medicine.”

We pray that we will not be like the US and keep a limited and unrealistic list of conditions which may ONLY be treated with Cannabis Medicine. To this day the US has still not added Autism to their list yet around the world we know that this medicine is both suitable and appropriate for this condition and further it actually gives positive results.

We do appreciate “In conditions where other treatments have failed” as most prescription medicines do fail and this is because most of these drugs in fact inhibit our Vitamin D uptake and inhibit our Endocannabinoid Systems not to mention long term liver damage and other nasty side effects.

Around the world we can see that the only way the people will be able to legally access this medicine is via the pharmaceutical industry and strictly controlled and expensive.

Even today we are witnessing some US states with Cannabis Medicine Dispensaries operating for years already now having to deal with their own federal people who insist on raiding them regularly, but now having to face the reality that they may have to fight a new government system which does not necessarily agree upon legal Cannabis Medicine as ludicrous as this sounds it must surely be ‘fake news’ or else it seems these governments have something to lose in ‘legal’ Cannabis Medicine.  When a story doesn’t make sense you might as well just follow the money so here were look at their massive drug cartels which carry Cannabis far and wide for massive revenue.

“Authorisation to prescribe is dependent on the submission of an:

Appropriate dosage regimen

Acceptable justification for the proposed use

Regular reporting to MCC”

What will happen with patients who for example have been cancer free for say 20 years?

For many patients over the years they have discovered that when they discontinue their Cannabis Medicine often times their condition and symptoms will return. So for many people this is like a death sentence.

Has the MCC considered maintenance dosing of Cannabis Medicine as a viable supplement to our preventative health care system?

Cannabis should be the first port of call in any illness instead of leaving a patient to wait to deteriorate before considering Cannabis as a last resort.

It is hard to believe that the average medical practitioner has sufficient knowledge or experience to work with Cannabis Medicine because they have never studied it unless they themselves have been consuming same in which case ii understand that they would not qualify for the permit, although this is not mentioned in the document.  Perhaps it is a foregone conclusion that medical doctors do not smoke Cannabis.

I have heard many stories of patients having to succumb to their medical practitioners ‘googling’ symptoms and remedies and we pray this is not a taste of the future of Cannabis Medicine.

We are pleased to see that veterinarians have been included as some other countries have not considered this in the first world.

“Only registered, authorised prescribers may apply for authorisation to prescribe a medicine for a patient”

This appears to exclude all Traditional Healers, Traditional Herbalists and Natural Health Care Providers who are not registered with the authorities but who have been working with this herb for hundreds of years especially the Rastafari Bush Doctor and Medicine Woman.

It is massive concern that even today in South Africa we still officially have an oppressed minority group which currently is around 3 million strong and which has a solid foundation both in the Bible and in our constitution and again this is why we are in court at the moment to fight for our constitutional rights to continue to carry this medicine without being properly persecuted for doing so in terms of our faith and unconstitutional laws of the land.

It is a sensitive matter to exclude the role of the Traditional Healer in Africa.

2. LEGAL STATUS OF CANNABIS

According to the Medicines Act NO ONE is allowed to grow this plant without a permit. And if you read the clarification to this 32 page document you will see that NO ONE is getting any permits in the very near future.

“UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs (1961)

Cultivation, production, manufacture and use may only occur through a licence issued by MCC and a permit by Department of Health.

MCC allows for the acquisition, use, possession, manufacture and supply of medicinal Cannabis in order to provide a medical practitioner, analyst, researcher or veterinarian therewith for the treatment or prevention of a medical condition in a particular patient, or for the purposes of education, analysis, or research provided a permit is obtained”

“Cannabis is a prohibited substance listed under Schedule 7 however products approved by MCC may be rescheduled to 6”

“Cannabis is a prohibited narcotic substance in South Africa. Cultivation for any purpose other than allowed is a criminal offence. 

Cultivation by non-licensees remains a criminal offence”

We have two important high profile court cases pending for decriminalisation which creates a lot of paper work in applying for stay of prosecutions by people arrested while these cases are pending. Reference the Dagga Couple (Gauteng) and Dagga Party (Cape Town) cases.

Many of us feel that the two main reasons this plant remains illegal are revenue and recreation.

If this plant did not possess psychedelic properties we might now not even be spending time on this document.  On a spiritual level Cannabis opens our chakras and our consciousness to the deceit on this planet. As do other psychedelic substances found in nature such as sacred mushrooms.

Cannabis also reveals a person to themselves and for a lot of people this could be quite intense and this is why people who use Cannabis are more conscious of their behaviour.

Cannabis must only be consumed in its pure whole herbal form.

To legalize for recreational purposes and even medicinal is a real challenge to world leaders

The story of alcohol versus Cannabis is an old one and a real one…if alcohol had psychedelic properties it would still be illegal.  Alcohol is under fire in “The Trial of The Plant”.

It seems at this stage around the world that any substance which opens the mind to truth and spiritual enlightment will not be tolerated by world leaders.

So at the very least Cannabis should be decriminalised and treated exactly the same way as alcohol. In the future ii can see a lot of ‘silly court cases’ having to be endured, because truly it is ridiculous to persecute a person for using a herb which the government itself is prescribing but only to certain people under certain conditions. Truly there ought to be a moratorium on Cannabis laws.

“Making people criminals for taking psychoactive substances is in itself criminal, for one is dealing with, at worst, a vice but not a crime.” – JP van Niekerk, Managing Editor – South African Medical Journal.

All plants have consciousness but this particular herb has a consciousness all of its own and this is because of the way in which this plant and its humans have been persecuted over the ages.

This persecution was even anticipated in the scriptures…

Ezekiel 34 vs 29

“And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore.”

Section 10 of our Bill of Rights states “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.”

So for people like myself, in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our families we are criminals for a plant and a medicine even though we are saving people’s lives daily we still have to live in fear as we heal, and surely this is not dignity. This of course also affects our chances of gaining employment in the work force and other scenarios where a criminal record is unacceptable.

1. LICENCE HOLDERS, EMPLOYEES AND PERSONELL

“The applicant for licence/permit should not have a history of illicit drug use or a conviction for an illicit drug-related offence.

UNSUITABLE EMPLOYEES

• Under 18
• Convicted of a serious offence
• Has a drug addiction or has had treatment or rehab
• Has a history of illicit drug use or a conviction”

Under legal status we are informed that Cannabis remains a Schedule 7 prohibited narcotic drug.

So the message is that no persons who consume Cannabis or who have Cannabis related convictions will ever be allowed to work in the Cannabis industry.

These employees will surely have to wear extreme protective gear, to ensure barrier planting, to prevent the resin from getting into contact with their skin and activating their Endocannabinoid Systems because drug testing for employees is guaranteed so employers must guarantee that the resin won’t seep through protective clothing.

This motion therefore excludes the majority of the people who carry the wisdoms, passion, skills and grow experience required to work with this plant. We do not doubt that any botanist or horticulturist will eventually figure out how to grow Cannabis but we are just saying that there is a lot to learn especially with regards to pest control.

For this reason ii am extremely concerned about the use of pesticides as we have already seen in our food production and we are noticing from overseas markets that a lot of Cannabis is recalled due to pesticide problems.

So many people who consume Cannabis have been fighting and looking forward to a positive experience working in the Cannabis industry only to now be totally excluded unless they stop consuming.

2. SECURITY MEASURES

It is prudent to be so security conscious because we believe that the way in which access is denied to the majority will result in an increase of Cannabis crimes which in turn will boost the security industry.

  

3. SEEDS AND LABELLING MATERIAL

This is a huge concern and seems to be in line with corporates like Monsanto who insist that we may only use their seeds in food production.  Seed which have been altered in any way is simply not natural and not acceptable for our health. People should be able to grow their own known strains which work for them personally.

“Specific Provision for the production of Cannabis intended for the processing into a standardised herbal medicine “chemically defined isolated constituents or their mixtures are not considered herbal medicine preparations.

Herbal medicine preparations may contain other components such as solvents, dilutents and preservatives.”

Despite successful CBD isolation in Israeli research there is sufficient evidence to prove that Cannabinoids simply do not work as well when isolated and some cease to occur when others are isolated.

So ii am deeply concerned about nature, which is perfect beyond any man’s comprehension being altered and synthetic Cannabinoids being presented to people as natural herbal medicine.

4. TESTING AND QUALITY CONTROL

Personally ii believe that testing and quality control are the two most important aspects of the pharmaceutical and now the Cannabis Medicine industry.  We pray that this new industry will be more concerned with the production and supply of quality Cannabis Medicines not like the pharmaceutical industry which clearly continues to produce unsafe medicines with radical side effects. Usually the side effects are the very symptoms they are designed to cure.  For example epileptic drugs can cause seizures, osteoporosis drugs can cause more fractures and so on.

Initially the medicines which will be made available will be imported from overseas markets, as it has been for some years now such as Dronabinol, Marinol and Sativex for instance, and if you do your homework you will see that many batches of these products, specifically Dronabinol, and other synthetic Cannabinoid medicines have been recalled over the years mostly due to pesticide levels, bacterial formation and inducing of suicidal thoughts especially when used in conjunction with alcohol or other narcotics like cocaine for instance.

The MCC confirms that it has already registered ONE Cannabis medicine as a Schedule 6 and we give thanks for forward thinking in this regard.

So we are concerned about the quality of some of these medicines which will now land on our shores in larger quantities.

Also we are concerned that these medicines are not produced from whole herbal plant and have therefore been altered through dilution which has serious pharmacological effects when working with this plant.

Most people are aware of global trends in molecular sieving, gas chromatography, mass spectrometer testing and other Cannabinoid isolation techniques so we can see that people are really trying to look at the pharmacological science of the plant.

Most efforts to alter the components of this plant are to reduce or eliminate the psychedelic components clearly showing that there is a shortage of scientific psychopharmacological and biological research and knowledge when working with the over 800 chemical components of the Cannabis plant.

5. FEES

We simply cannot see how the average South African would be able to afford these fees even the fees required to just be paid by the patient for application for prescription.  This places this medicine out of the reach of the majority of our people and into the hands of the rich and corporates.

This is unacceptable on so many levels because this plant should be free for everyone to use who might need it.

What about the private individual who heals themselves or uses Traditional and Natural Healers? What about the Healer?

Personally ii do agree with Julian and Myrtle that the only paperwork which should be required to work in this industry is a tax number.

6. RESEARCH

“All studies involving medicinal Cannabis for clinical or scientific research require a permit issued by the Director General of Health in terms of Section 22A(9)(a)(i) and prior approval by MCC.

Approval by an independent research ethics committee may be required”

Our constitution clearly states that we have the right to engage in research.

Chapter 2 of our constitution Section 16 of The Bill of Rights contains detailed provisions with regard to freedom of expression, stating

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; freedom of artistic creativity; and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research.”

Section 16 contains the following limitations to freedom of expression “The right in subsection (1) does not extend to propaganda for war; incitement of imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.”

Average people have been researching Cannabis medicine for more than 30 years now in South Africa and indeed many medical practitioners have started to educate themselves and this is a positive step forward.

CONCLUSION AND FINAL MOTIVATION

Personally ii never ever imagined that ii would have the opportunity of writing a response to my government’s guidelines for Cannabis Medicine in my own life time, so truly this is a wonderful occasion especially the fact that public opinion has been sought for comment to these guidelines. 

It is only through the teachings of my Elders and Masters that ii have known since a young girl that we have “THC Receptors” and that Cannabis cures cancer and we have all now seen how Cannabinoid treatment can be used to treat a wide variety of disorders and health conditions also eliminating many age-related conditions like cell degradation.

We have all become more educated from research studies being released through the emerging science of Cannabis Chemistry and Cannabis Medicine, and one thing is very clear, a fully functional Endocannabinoid System is essential for health.

All evidence indicates that the Endocannabinoid System and the Cannabis plant both have a very profound effect on the human body.

The very fact that we have this system proves that we are in fact intended to consume Cannabinoids not only as a medicine but as a supplement to maintain our Endocannabinoid Systems because it has been scientifically proven that Cannabinoid deficiency leads to illness.

So truly if you really think about it Cannabis has gone from dangerous narcotic drug to a healing medicine to a vital vegetable in just 99 years in our country under prohibition.

With all this scientific evidence it is really hard to understand and to explain to our children why this plant is still illegal.

  

GENESIS 1 VERSE 29

Especially when we also know that scientists and medical professionals around the world now agree that the psychedelic effects of Cannabis’ active pharmacological component THC are only short lived and pose no negative side effects and no one has ever died from Cannabis use and overdose is virtually impossible and that in fact Cannabis is a remarkably tranquil and calming medicine unlike alcohol which alters the mind negatively and this is why we constantly see such terrible behaviour which people then claim that they cannot even recall.  Perhaps this is why they call it ‘spirits’ because it makes you unconscious and it has been scientifically proven that the human vibrates at the lowest possible frequency when under the influence of alcohol and this is why they tend to react to aggression so much.

This is why we are in court now over the legitimacy of criminalisation of Cannabis and alcohol is under hot debate.

These same professionals also agree that addiction is alike to that of coffee or chocolate. Many recovering addicts can testify how Cannabis has helped them in their recovery especially from alcohol and other drug addictions and in fact has helped to keep them off these dangerous drugs and alcohol is by far the most dangerous drug on the planet yet it remains legal.

Governments around the world including the USA accept that “Cannabis is the least toxic plant known to mankind”.

So for world governments to still try and convince us that this plant is a dangerous drug is truly becoming more and more unacceptable to more and more people.  Pretty soon there will be more people consuming Cannabis than do not and this will be interesting times in terms of law making as we have seen around the world in a short space of time.

At this time more than 80 controlled clinical trials on humans have been published as well as more than 15 000 peer reviewed scientific articles on the chemistry and pharmacology of Cannabis and Cannabinoids as well as more than 2000 articles on the body’s natural Endocannabinoids so really no one can say that the research has not been done or that we need more research.

Section 11 of our Bill of Rights states that

“Everyone has the right to life”

Consuming a natural herb which contains the vital chemicals we need to maintain our health is equivalent to life in the same way as being denied this herb is dangerous and threatening to our health and lives.

There is currently an explosion of scientific research on the therapeutic potential of Cannabis, with no lack of evidence, and in fact more evidence than you can find on some of the most popular remedies of conventional medicine. You could say this is the most researched plant on the planet.

In my mind Cannabis Medicine is the single most useful herbal remedy in the treatment of the widest range of medical disorders and diseases.

Cannabis Medicine has already been proven to be the vital element of preventative health care and the natural source of an adaptive support and defence mechanism in our ever increasing toxic, carcinogenic environment which we find ourselves today.

It is my personal belief that the average person in the street should be permitted to grow a limited number of plants for personal medicinal consumption. Not everyone wants to grow Cannabis or even their own food, so there will always be a need to dispense this medicine.

It is therefore unacceptable for this plant to be denied to the majority of our people by rigid financial and legal barriers and everyone should be free to grow this God given herb in their back gardens.

Again we give thanks for the opportunity to express our opinion on this platform and look forward to positive healing of the nations in the future.

Sister Vee Nohombile Bush

HOW II WISH WHITE PEOPLE COULD WAKE UP

ENTIRELY WITHOUT PREJUDICE

This post is in direct response the cancellation of the Cape Town bicycle race and will no doubt cause huge controversy and anger among white people and ii did send this letter to the local community paper The False Bay Echo who ran the story of the township concerned being Masiphumelele Fish Hoek Cape Town.

Dear White People Please Wake UP!

When ii heard that the bicycle race was cancelled due to the wind my first thought was ‘there’s more to this story’ and today ii hear about what happened in Masi and now it all makes sense.  Firstly ii would like to salute the leaders and community of Masi on giving a brilliant display unity and solidarity. Maximum respect!

Personally ii grew up in Simons Town and my father had me sleep in a cell in the police station in 1981 with instructions to the police to ‘sjambok’ me.  Being a staunch racist he was unhappy because ii had pictures of ‘black men’ on my bedroom wall as well as the Ethiopian flag. The pictures were of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I my JAH, and therefore ii was praying to a ‘black God’ and this was worse than the posters of His Majesty, Mortimer Planno and of course Bob Marley. My father referred to me as a “kaffir boetjie”.  As soon as ii finished school ii left for Eastern Cape where it was easier for me to move with people of colour and ii returned last year on February 1. 

Saddened was ii to realise that not much had changed in the consciousness of white people who are still largely very racist and ii feel this very deeply even after all these years because ii can see children reflecting adults behaviours which ii witnessed over 30 years ago. But having said that ii can also see that a lot of white people have become conscious and ii see a lot more white people from overseas coming to volunteer this is a good start but much more needs to be done because the problem is bigger than you think or can see.

For me personally to be able in Cape Town to finally walk freely down the street with my brothers and sisters and not be chased by police for doing so, although honestly ii do get a lot of ‘dirty looks’ especially in Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay is a taste of freedom .

When ii first got back ii put my shopping bag on my head in main road Fish Hoek and that caused a bit of attention from other white people and it actually caused me to take the bag off my head as ii felt so uncomfortable, lucky for me it wasn’t a bucket of water.

The only reason ii know a little bit about black people is because ii have lived in communities with them and ii have a Xhosa family in the Eastern Cape and still ii consider myself only semi- conscious to African cosmology and all the wonderful elements which are involved in such beautiful African cultures which ii wish ii could encourage more white people to embrace. 

Honestly ii could not understand why the government sent a white lady into Masi to negotiate black people’s needs then ii remembered that it’s the DA in power down here.  For the community leaders and spokesmen to issue a statement indicating that the greater community of Masi (being black people) do not have a problem with the people of the valley (being mostly white people living around Masi) except for Ms Purchase. 

Personally ii would leave town, but the truth is that whilst a lot of white people might not even realise it, you have seriously offended these people and this is just from how ii know black people, this culture is all about respect, something we don’t have much of in the white nation as evident by behaviour seen around. Gosh white people can barely greet one another. Moleweni!

All ii would like to say at this point is that white people should really respectfully count their blessings that black people are so humble and patient because they have higher wisdom ii can promise you this because if they wanted to kill us white people they would surely have done so already. 

But ii can also tell you what ii have learnt from black people, is that deep in their hearts they are able to find forgiveness and they actually love white people but not our arrogance and egos.  Just the other day ii spoke to one of my neighbours whom ii seldom see and she told me that she works for a white family for 16 years already in Somerset West, yes she travels everyday back and forth to this family literally across the bay to care for them and she told me that she would never ever leave them, wow so much love ii cried when she told me this and to be honest ii have heard this story many times before.

Please my fellow white people, ii am begging you to wake up and see that it doesn’t matter which way you look at this story, it is better to humble now because truly resistance is futile at this point.

Whether we think we are aliens from the stars with super powers or if we think that all people come from Africa and that there is only one race the human race…well the truth is that nothing which did or didn’t happen in history, nothing will ever change the fact that it was the white man who came to Africa with the intention to steal the black man’s gold and silver and force him to seek his Heaven after death.  It is this doctrine that has brought disgrace to both black and white people and causes us both to die in dishonour.  Now we have a chance to break this cycle if we can all just humble.

The white man knew that he would have to pay for the gold and silver and this is how he came to colonize Africa (except for Ethiopia Rastafari) so he could control the people and the land, this is the truth, it is an African thing not a ‘Cape Town thing’.

As white people we all need to start looking at black people as humans.  Now, seriously for me personally and definitely for tourists visiting our country it is impossible to look at Masi and see a human image.

What you see is certainly no different to how rats live all squashed up together in small spaces where people are forced to live in closer than close proximity to their dirt and ablutions.

Do we really want to be seen as a country where the life of a rhino seems more important to white people than black people’s lives? Where white people’s pets have medical aid but their gardener and house keeper or child minder must stand in day long queues at False Bay Hospital?

So our constitution which by the way black people fought for, says that everyone is entitled to life, dignity, a home, water and food so we are failing our people and yes ii can hear all of you saying ‘where is my free house? My free water my free electricity?’  This socio economic crisis we are dealing with right now runs so deep that truly a deeper consciousness is necessary to completely understand the dynamics and seek solutions for all the people and Cape Town is diverse. Black people can teach us about these things. Believe me they have a solution for any problem and this is one of the reasons ii love black people so much.

In my life ii have been raped by a black man, the woman whom ii considered to be my foster mother and ii even have a dread lock named after her RIP Hester Koch, was murdered on her farm in Phillippi, ii lost my niece who walked the Rastafari path with me after she was abducted in Johannesburg by Nigerians, also ii have been mugged and had a few cars stolen and plenty house roberries when ii lived in white suburbs. I have also suffered terribly at white racism because of Rastafari being a ‘black religion’ with a ‘black God’.

Collectively as white people we need to show black people that we are truly remorseful for what our ancestors did to Africa and especially South Africa. Just try to be a little bit more humble maybe learn a few words of Xhosa just basic greetings ii promise you it will change life in the valley and you will see that there is a hope that we can truly live together but first we have to up the game and accommodate our brothers and sisters.

We have to redistribute the land so we can do away with ghettos and townships. It is unacceptable on so many levels that our people are living like this in the first place. This is exactly why ii swore to never buy land in a ‘white suburb’.

We simply cannot and should not tolerate a society where we the majority of our people have the exclusive identity of poverty, hunger, under-education, landlessness and cheap labour.

This identity then presents us with the ‘black condition’ and this condition feeds our collective white arrogance which has it foundation in this identity which personifies the condition of being black, so we absolutely have to shift this attitude of ‘minority white superiority’ in order to deal with this ‘black condition’ we have collectively created.

The comment of Ms Purchase about the Masi bicycle team proves exactly how deep her ignorance of black people runs.  Black people care not about a bicycle race when their human rights are at stake they will say ‘next time bhuti’ and the cyclists themselves would rather embrace freedom than a cycling event. Black people are prepared to die for their rights.

MY INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE MCC GUIDELINES NOT YET PRESENTED

RESPONSE TO MCC GUIDELINES FOR CANNABIS MEDICINE MARCH 2017

ISSUED ON AN ENTIRELY WITHOUT PREJUDICE OR ADMISSION OF ANY GUILT OR LIABILITY BASIS

We should all give thanks to our leaders for this vital opportunity to engage in discussion about the future of Cannabis Medicine in South Africa.

1.  AUTHORISED PRESCRIBERS/MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Registered doctors may now apply to MCC for permission to access and prescribe Cannabis Medicine.

This is a very positive step in the right direction because as we know this legal medical provision has actually been in place for some time, but as we also know that only a very few people were actually able to get such a prescription.

The very first question the public would wish to know is how will our Medical Practitioners’ become educated in psychopharmacology and Cannabis Medicine in order to make conscious medical decisions?

So we are concerned as to whether doctors’ higher education is a consideration?

Many of us have long believed that doctors will eventually learn about Cannabis Medicine from their patients so now we see the law making provision for sick people to pay steep fees for the privilege of being prescribed a herbal remedy which they could easily grow themselves by a doctor who has possibly and likely never studied Cannabis Medicine or psychopharmacology.

The reality of this medicine is that for the majority of conditions proven and accepted to be treated with Cannabis for over 5000 years like pain, inflammation, menstrual pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting it is most effective when smoked and this is the delivery system which doctors will most likely have a moral and ethical issue with.

These conditions also affect the majority of our population especially women from as young as 12 years old.

 “Cannabis products intended for medicinal use may thus be made available:

In exceptional circumstances

In conditions where other treatments have failed

To specific patients under medical supervision “

This reminds of a press statement issued by the Italian Minister of Health a few years ago where he stated proudly that they “would decide who was sick enough to get this medicine.”

We pray that we will not be like the US and keep a limited and unrealistic list of conditions which may ONLY be treated with Cannabis Medicine. To this day the US has still not added Autism to their list yet around the world we know that this medicine is both suitable and appropriate for this condition and further it actually gives positive results.

We do appreciate “In conditions where other treatments have failed” as most prescription medicines do fail and this is because most of these drugs in fact inhibit our Vitamin D uptake and inhibit our Endocannabinoid Systems.

Around the world we can see that the only way the people will be able to legally access this medicine is via the pharmaceutical industry and strictly controlled and expensive.

Even today we are witnessing some US states with Cannabis Medicine Dispensaries operating for years already now having to face the reality that they may have to fight a new government which does not necessarily agree upon legal Cannabis Medicine as ludicrous as this sounds it must surely be ‘fake news’ or else it seems these governments have something to lose as in their massive drug cartels which carry Cannabis far and wide.

GENESIS 1 VERSE 29

 “Authorisation to prescribe is dependent on the submission of an:

Appropriate dosage regimen

Acceptable justification for the proposed use

Regular reporting to MCC”

What will happen with patients who for example have been cancer free for say 20 years?

For many patients over the years they have discovered that when they discontinue their Cannabis Medicine often times their condition and symptoms will return. So for many people this is like a death sentence.

Has the MCC considered maintenance dosing of Cannabis Medicine as a viable supplement to our preventative health care system?

It is hard to believe that the average medical practitioner has sufficient knowledge or experience to work with Cannabis Medicine because they have never studied it unless they themselves have been consuming same in which case ii understand that they would not qualify for the permit, although this is not mentioned in the document.  Perhaps it is a foregone conclusion that medical doctors do not smoke Cannabis.

I have heard many stories of patients having to succumb to their medical practitioners ‘googling’ symptoms and remedies and we pray this is not a taste of the future of Cannabis Medicine.

We are pleased to see that veterinarians have been included as some other countries have not considered this in the first world.

“Only registered, authorised prescribers may apply for authorisation to prescribe a medicine for a patient”

This appears to exclude all Traditional Healers, Traditional Herbalists and Natural Health Care Providers who are not registered with the authorities but who have been working with this herb for hundreds of years. It is a sensitive matter to exclude the role of the Traditional Healer in Africa.

1. LEGAL STATUS OF CANNABIS

According to the Medicines Act NO ONE is allowed to grow this plant without a permit.

“UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs (1961)

Cultivation, production, manufacture and use may only occur through a licence issued by MCC and a permit by Dept of Health.

MCC allows for the acquisition, use, possession, manufacture and supply of medicinal Cannabis in order to provide a medical practitioner, analyst, researcher or veterinarian therewith for the treatment or prevention of a medical condition in a particular patient, or for the purposes of education, analysis, or research provided a permit is obtained”

“Cannabis is a prohibited substance listed under Schedule 7 however products approved by MCC may be rescheduled to 6”

“Cannabis is a prohibited narcotic substance in South Africa. Cultivation for any purpose other than allowed is a criminal offence. 

Cultivation by non-licensees remains a criminal offence”

We have two important high profile court cases pending for decriminalisation which creates a lot of paper work in applying for stay of prosecutions by people arrested while these cases are pending. Reference the Dagga Couple (Gauteng) and Dagga Party (Cape Town) cases.

Many of us feel that the two main reasons this plant remains illegal are revenue and recreation.

If this plant did not possess psychedelic properties we might now not even be spending time on this document.  On a spiritual level Cannabis opens our chakras and our consciousness to the deceit on this planet. As do other psychedelic substances found in nature such as sacred mushrooms.

To legalize for recreational purposes and even medicinal is a real challenge to world leaders

Humans who consume Cannabis meditate clearly upon their actions and thoughts. This of course does not apply to people who consume alcohol and other chemicals like cocaine as well because their minds are blocked by the alcohol and this is evident in their behaviour patterns.

Cannabis must only be consumed in its pure whole herbal form.

The story of alcohol versus Cannabis is an old one and a real one…if alcohol had psychedelic properties it would still be illegal.  Alcohol is under hot debate under “The Trial of The Plant”.

Any substance which opens the mind to truth will not be tolerated by world leaders.

So at the very least Cannabis should be decriminalised and treated exactly the same way as alcohol.

“Making people criminals for taking psychoactive substances is in itself criminal, for one is dealing with, at worst, a vice but not a crime.” – JP van Niekerk, Managing Editor – South African Medical Journal.

All plants have consciousness but this particular herb has a consciousness all of its own and this is because of the way in which this plant and its humans have been persecuted over the ages.

This persecution was even anticipated in the scriptures…

Ezekiel 34 vs 29

“And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore.”

Section 10 of our Bill of Rights states “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.”

So for people like myself in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our families we are criminals for a plant and a medicine and this is not dignity. This of course also affects our chances of gaining employment in the work force and other scenarios where a criminal record is unacceptable.

1. LICENCE HOLDERS, EMPLOYEES AND PERSONELL

“The applicant for licence/permit should not have a history of illicit drug use or a conviction for an illicit drug-related offence.

UNSUITABLE EMPLOYEES

• Under 18
• Convicted of a serious offence
• Has a drug addiction or has had treatment or rehab
• Has a history of illicit drug use or a conviction”

Under legal status we are informed that Cannabis remains a Schedule 7 prohibited narcotic drug.

So the message is that no persons who consume Cannabis or who have Cannabis related convictions will be allowed to work in the Cannabis industry.

These employees will surely have to wear extreme protective gear, like barrier planting, to prevent the resin from getting into contact with their skin and activating their Endocannabinoid Systems because drug testing for employees is guaranteed so employers must guarantee that the resin won’t seep through protective clothing.

This motion therefore excludes the majority of the people who carry the wisdoms, passion, skills and grow experience required to work with this plant. We do not doubt that any botanist or horticulturist will eventually figure out how to grow Cannabis but we are just saying that there is a lot to learn especially with regards to pest control.

For this reason ii am extremely concerned about the use of pesticides as we have already seen in our food production and we are noticing from overseas markets that a lot of Cannabis is recalled due to pesticide problems.

2. SECURITY MEASURES

It is prudent to be so security conscious because we believe that the way in which access is denied to the majority will result in an increase of Cannabis crimes which in turn will boost the security industry.

3. SEEDS AND LABELLING MATERIAL

This is a huge concern and seems to be in line with corporates like Monsanto who insist that we may only use their seeds in food production.  Seed which have been altered in any way are simply not natural and not acceptable for our health. People should be able to grow their own known strains which work for them personally.

“Specific Provision for the production of Cannabis intended for the processing into a standardised herbal medicine “chemically defined isolated constituents or their mixtures are not considered herbal medicine preparations.

Herbal medicine preparations may contain other components such as solvents, dilutents and preservatives.”

Despite successful CBD isolation in Israeli research there is sufficient evidence to prove that Cannabinoids simply do not work as well when isolated and some cease to occur when others are isolated.

So ii am deeply concerned about nature which is perfect beyond any man’s comprehension being altered and presented to people as natural herbal medicine.

4. TESTING AND QUALITY CONTROL

Personally ii believe that testing and quality control are the two most important aspects of the Cannabis industry.  We pray that this new industry will be more concerned with the production and supply of quality Cannabis Medicines not like the pharmaceutical industry which clearly continues to produce unsafe medicines with radical side effects usually the side effects are the very symptoms they are designed to cure.  For example epileptic drugs can cause seizures, osteoporosis drugs can cause more fractures and so on.

Initially the medicines which will be made available will be imported from overseas markets, as it has been for some years now such as Dronabinol, Marinol and Sativex for instance, and if you do your homework you will see that many batches of this product, specifically Dronabinol, and other synthetic Cannabinoid medicines have been recalled over the years mostly due to pesticide levels, bacterial formation and inducing of suicidal thoughts especially when used in conjunction with alcohol or other narcotics like cocaine for instance.

The MCC confirms that it has already registered ONE Cannabis medicine as a Schedule 6 and we should give thanks for forward thinking in this regard.

So ii am concerned about the quality of some of these medicines which will now land on our shores in larger quantities.

Also ii am concerned that these medicines are not produced from whole herbal plant and have therefore been altered through dilution which has serious pharmacological effects when working with this plant.

Most people are aware of global trends in molecular sieving and Cannabinoid isolation techniques and similar research currently underway especially at The Hebrew University.

Most efforts to alter the components of this plant are to reduce or eliminate the psychedelic components clearly showing that there is a shortage of scientific research and knowledge when working with the over 800 chemical components of the Cannabis plant.

5. FEES

We simply cannot see how the average South African would be able to afford these fees even the fees required to be paid by the patient for application for prescription.  This places this medicine out of the reach of the majority of our people and into the hands of the rich and corporates.

This is unacceptable on so many levels because this plant should be free for everyone to use who might need it.

What about the private individual who heals themselves or uses Traditional and Natural Healers? What about the Healer?

Personally ii do agree with Julian and Myrtle that the only paperwork which should be required to work in this industry is a tax number.

6. RESEARCH

“All studies involving medicinal Cannabis for clinical or scientific research require a permit issued by the Director General of Health in terms of Section 22A(9)(a)(i) and prior approval by MCC.

Approval by an independent research ethics committee may be required”

Our constitution clearly states that we have the right to engage in research.

Chapter 2 of our constitution Section 16 of The Bill of Rights contains detailed provisions with regard to freedom of expression, stating

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; freedom of artistic creativity; and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research.”

Section 16 contains the following limitations to freedom of expression “The right in subsection (1) does not extend to propaganda for war; incitement of imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.”

Average people have been researching Cannabis medicine for more than 30 years now in South Africa and indeed many medical practitioners have started to educate themselves and this is a positive step forward.

CONCLUSION AND FINAL MOTIVATION

Personally ii never ever imagined that ii would have the honour of writing a response to my government’s guidelines for Cannabis Medicine, so truly this is a wonderful occasion especially the fact that public opinion has been sought for comment to these guidelines. 

We have seen how Cannabinoid treatment can be used to treat a wide variety of disorders and health conditions also eliminating many age-related conditions like cell degradation.

We have all become more educated from research studies being released through the emerging science of Cannabis Chemistry and Cannabis Medicine, and one thing is very clear, a fully functional Endocannabinoid System is essential for health, as all evidence indicates that the Endocannabinoid System and the Cannabis plant both have a very profound effect on the human body.

The very fact that we have this system proves that we are in fact intended to consume Cannabinoids not only as a medicine but as a supplement to maintain our Endocannabinoid Systems because it has been scientifically proven that Cannabinoid deficiency leads to illness.

With all this scientific evidence it is really hard to understand and to explain to our children why this plant is still illegal. Especially when we also know that scientists and medical professionals around the world now agree that the psychedelic effects of Cannabis’ active pharmacological component THC are only short lived and pose no negative side effects and no one has ever died from Cannabis use and overdose is virtually impossible and that in fact Cannabis is a remarkably tranquil and calming medicine unlike alcohol which alters the mind negatively and this is why we constantly see such terrible behaviour which people then claim that they cannot even recall.  This is why we are in court now over the legitimacy of criminalisation of Cannabis.

Section 11 of our Bill of Rights states that

“Everyone has the right to life”

Consuming a natural herb which contains the vital chemicals we need to maintain our health is equivalent to life in the same way as being denied this herb is dangerous to our health and lives.

There is currently an explosion of scientific research on the therapeutic potential of Cannabis, with no lack of evidence, and in fact more evidence than you can find on some of the most popular remedies of conventional medicine. You could say this is the most researched plant on the planet.

In my mind Cannabis Medicine is the single most useful herbal remedy in the treatment of the widest range of medical disorders and diseases.

Cannabis Medicine has already been proven to be the vital element of preventative health care and the natural source of an adaptive support and defence mechanism in our ever increasing toxic, carcinogenic environment which we find ourselves today.

It is a strong belief that the average person in the street should be considered to grow a limited number of plants for personal medicinal consumption.

Not everyone wants to grow Cannabis or even their own food, so there will always be a need to dispense this medicine.

Again ii give thanks for the opportunity to express my opinion on this platform and look forward to positive healing of the nations in the future.

Sister Vee Nohombile Bush

Spiritual Healer