Hey SteemHeads
This is Che reporting to you live on the ground from Cape Town South Africa, with Red Eye Witness news. This just in! Weed is now legal in South Africa! That's right, time to blaze up folks!
So I was just minding my own business when social media blew up yesterday regarding the news. South African's have no chill so they all naturally lost their minds with memes, protests and the sort, all voicing their opinions on the matter.
I personally couldn't care less about the topic. I'm just over here having cool runnings before I shot the sheriff and then met 3 little birdies singing sweet songs and this is my message to you, oooh oooh!
Image source: Pixabay
The ruling has passed
So what do I mean by legal? Let's dive into the actual legalities first. The Constitutional Court of South Africa, the country’s highest court, (yes that was a damn good pun am I right? Highest court? See what I did there?) On Tuesday morning ruled that the personal use of cannabis is no longer a criminal offence.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the ban on private possession and consumption, and cultivation of the plant for own use is unconstitutional. It found that the country’s cannabis ban infringed on section 14 of the South African constitution which gives all citizens the right to privacy.
I honestly don't know how it simply found this out now, it seems a little fishy for my liking, I never just take things on face value. So while South African's celebrate I thought I'd do a little digging!
Decriminalised is just a term
Don't let the term decriminalised fool you, its just that a term, it has plenty of conditions attached to it and when a country gives you a little leeway you can be sure if you step over the line you will feel the brunt of the full extent of the law.
So while before you would get shaken down and maybe thrown in a cell overnight, maybe had a plead guilty and paid a fine, it's now going to be a whole new ball game!
It's going to be a cock up
So the law still states that cannabis may not be consumed in public, nor distributed or sold, or used by minors. But who the fuck is going to listen to that bullshit? Who has time to grow their own weed? That's some idealistic view right there, how many of you even have the patience to grow a tomato in your garden, let alone weed lol!
In my personal opinion, South African's have yet to come to terms with the freedoms we already enjoy and this is grossly apparent by the abuse of liquor and the high death tolls on our roads every year. We have constant public campaigns to drive home safe and responsible liquor use but come Friday payday you can be assured that message isn't going to resonate.
While I'm pretty sure many South African's who will smoke recreationally will do it in a responsible manner, the law is not there to regulate the responsible its there to regulate the irresponsible.
Having weed available for use will now create a grey area for those who peddle harder narcotics such as Mandrax/Quaaludes and Nyope/Antiretroviral Aids drugs which are popularly used in combination with weed in order to give an even greater high.
While weed may be innocent to many it could now be used as a trojan horse for more nefarious purposes. Since there are very few if any legitimate sources for getting weed people to turn to the informal black/grey markets to find their products and without real regulation and testing you don't actually know what you're putting in your body.
Stoning your people
In South Africa, the legal age for mature content is 18, at 18 you can simply bombard yourself with unlimited access to porn, gambling, liquor and now weed. While my hands are not clean by any stretch of the imagination I do feel that 18 is a bit too young to be comprehending the effects these dopamine inducing activities can do to alter your mind.
Your prefrontal cortex only fully develops at the age of 25 and by then you would have completed your studies or acquired a hand skill that can make you money, you've gotten through all the usual life admin and you're ready to make your own decisions. By all means drink, smoke, gamble have consensual sex and be merry but make those decisions with all the comprehension your actions will have on your life.
Pay the tax man
It's absolutely no secret that our economy is in the shitter. At the time of writing this, we have to fork over R15 to get US $1 or 17 for 1 Euro and 19 for a pound sterling. Yes, we're getting screwed over pretty bad, kinda like twist my nipples, call me big daddy and fuck me sideways kinda screwed.
Our socialist programs are bleeding the country dry and it's no secret that the country is looking for new streams of revenue. I predict once the fanfare has died down and people realise they don't have any horticultural abilities the need for dispensaries will be lobbied for, heavily regulated and the sin tax on it will be the highest you'll ever see.
It makes sense from a government point of view. It's a bid to keep us quiet and sedated and tax then once we've established the demand, they will give it to us and tax us for good measure. Am I the only one seeing this? Hella woke moments!
Toking tourism
The South African economy is in the shitter and one of the reasons is a decrease in tourism. Ever since the highs (Yes I did it again) of the 2010 world cup had everyone signing "waka waka its time for Africa" we've seen tourism in a sharp decline.
So how do we create a buzz around the country to attract first world Dollars and Euros? Make weed legal of course. Not everyone can afford to travel to Jamaica or Holland to hit up a blunt now, can we? Now picture this a place where you can go, with great weather, beaches, wine farms, hiking trails, wildlife aaaaannnnnd Weed!
It's a no-brainer, tourists are a curious bunch and will want to smoke some of that African good good. I'm starting to think this wasn't about the people's rights and more about how to continue this broken socialist government and line the greasy palms of fat cats at the top who are all patting their backs and marvelling at their genius.
Dealing with dumbasses
As sure as I am that Table mountain is flat I'm sure not a single South African actually bothered to read the constitutional ruling in its entirety and were too busy using the paper to roll up a fatty.
I have zero doubt that we will see an increase in cannabis-related arrests and I'm already putting my "I told you so" out there for the rest of you to enjoy. We will see people trying to smoke in public places, smoke and drive, smoke while driving, smoke in front or in the company of minors, worse even smoke with minors and all sorts of situations that come with giving back certain freedoms to people.
They will naturally want to push the boundaries and well you either going to be slapped with a heavy fine or face some jail time. Which is extra money in the pocket of our greedy government, so go ahead bro, give em your money! $2 of weed for a $500+ fine and a criminal record seems fair enough.
Freedom isn't free
As South Africa has progressed under democracy I feel we've lost some of our conservative values that this nation was built on. Comradardy, family and self-respect, we're too focused on freedoms. We as a people have yet to come to terms with the freedoms we already enjoy and do not fully understand the concepts of causality the older generations do.
Allow me to explain, when I was growing up parents and teachers were well within their rights to beat their kids. I was personally beat by both my parents and my teachers and rightly so I was a naughty little shit.
After my beating I would go to my room, kneel before my bed and pray. I would give thanks for the day, say my prayers and at the end I would ask for 2 things.
- 1 would always be the latest toy so PlayStation or Gameboy, something to that effect
- 2 would be that my parents and teacher would get hit by a bus or struck by lightning
I may not have understood then but now I can see that my actions have consequences and used that rational later in life and it is an important part of growing up. We've spoiled the child by sparing the rod. So what I'm saying "Moer jou laaties"- beat your kids if you really love them.
Freedom is only freedom when you understand the choice you make. If you do not, you're in fact a slave to that freedom and that by definition is not freedom.
I'm not a bushwhacker
While I may sound like I'm coming down hard on weed and being a negative nelly I feel someone needs to present the counter-argument here. In this life, nothing comes without a price and when the price is labelled "Free" the cost is always higher than it would ever be if It were a paid for, transaction.
I have no issues with weed or the people who smoke it, and I'm sure it's not as dangerous as alcohol is and it has positive aspects to it, thats not what I'm arguing. I'm merely trying to illustrate the mindset behind substance abuse in this country.
I just feel I know my people and how they react, how they think and how this country works. A part of me hopes my analysis is off base and I'm completely wrong but I highly doubt it, but let's watch this whole thing unravel.
I'll have my popcorn ready!
All aboard the pineapple express train!
So that's right the good grade, the purple strain, the pineapple express is now ready to leave the station and South Africa is excited.
Stations we will pass are:
- The Green
- The Gunja
- The Mary Jane
- The Boem
- The Dagga
- The Skyf
On our way to high town! Will you be joining us anytime soon?
Have at it
What do you guys refer to weed as in your part of the world? Is it legal? Do you use it? What do you think about using weed recreationally? Are you high right now? Are you paranoid? Is the girl sitting next to you single? I heard you two hooked up once is it true? Are you getting money? Do you think weed smokers would support you?
Holla at your boy in the comments!
Let's connect
If you liked this post sprinkle it with an upvote or resteem and if you don't already, consider following me
Put your votes to good use
We all can't max out our upvotes every day and a little help never hurt. Sign up to Smartsteem and sell a few of your votes each day, earn some STEEM and SBD in the process and still get in some curation rewards in STEEM Power. Check out SmartSteem
Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Doge or Dash for STEEM instantly
Check out blocktrades to quickly exchange popular cryptocurrencies for STEEM, STEEM power or STEEM Dollars or trade your STEEM, STEEM power or STEEM dollars for popular cryptocurrencies
Sources: