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Are cannabis seeds legal in SA?


THCSA
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6 hours ago, THCSA said:

Recently wrote this article about the paradox of cannabis seeds since decriminalization in SA.
https://thehighco.co.za/are-cannabis-seeds-legal-in-south-africa/

My gut says that cannabis seeds are legal to buy and sell.
What do you think... is it legal?

I feel some legal terms are being used incorrectly here. I don't believe any decriminalization has happened with regards to the use of cannabis; a legal precedent was set in Sept 2018 in accordance with already entrenched legal provisions, the most prominent being the Constitution of our country, which provides many rights one of which being our right to privacy. An argument was made that the use of cannabis as well as the cultivation for personal use of cannabis falls under this right to privacy and the court judges that the people should not be persecuted for doing so. 

The legality of the sale of cannabis seeds is the same now as it was before Sept 2018. It is illegal to sell any part of a cannabis plant. Does that mean it is illegal to sell seeds? It isn't defined. This is what we call a 'grey' market. As yet, to my knowledge, the authorities are not targeting the seed banks. If they felt that they wanted to target seedbanks and the import of cannabis seeds, I feel imo the circumstance can be argued in court with enough current legislation that a precedent would be set and vualá, we have a legal definition to follow. 

Unfortunately democracy means laws take forever to be written, so enjoy the limbo while it lasts :-puffpass

Edited by Ill_Evan
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Sad reality is seeds are not legal to sell or buy as the drugs and trafficking act includes seeds, eventhough they dont contain THC, the killer, addictive cannabinoid. It specifies dagga seeds as illegal to trade. I say some laws need to be broken, and support local seedabanks. Just got some amazing first gen seeds today from a neighbour. Did you know even bartering seeds is technically illegal, even if they are tomato seeds.

Edited by Chris Jay
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I've never heard of anyone being arrested for seeds to be honest. I've heard of seedbanks being shut down in the past but didn't hear of their owners being arrested. I've heard of customs confiscating seeds but not arresting the person the seeds were intended for. 

We have a few established seedbanks in SA now with owners names out in the public domain. Nothing seems to be happening to them. 

I don't think the SAPS fully understands their stance on it, nor do they thankfully want to waste resources on it. I think at the end of the day the big issue will become the money and whether its being taxed and that's probably why it hasn't been given a green light by the SAPS/government. I think the shutdowns and confiscations are like a slap on the wrist to prevent you from trying to spend your untaxed money again

Last week I received an email from Payfast which is the online payment merchant for the online store. They said that they have disconnected the account because it's "High Risk". They didn't state the exact reason for the account closure but it's most likely because the store is selling seeds. @Cannabist that happened to you too right? I don't think Payfast are 100% sure themselves but are staying on the safe side for now...

 

 

 

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Payfast are often quick to stop supporting stores which may fall in a grey area with regards to the law - but I guess I understand that from their side that they do not want to take any risk or be accused of supporting such activities.

 

Regarding the law on seeds, I feel it's still illegal although I do disagree with it and feel it should be legal.

Law is a weird thing and often at times sort of contradicts itself. Some drugs are illegal to manufacture, possess, buy or sell but using them isn't... For synthetic drugs some illegal process had to be followed in order to get them.

In the UK steroids do not have any possession offence, but they're still illegal to manufacture, supply and possess etc.

 

Currently cannabis is legal to grow in SA, in the privacy of your home due to a loop hole in the law but seeds aren't. Cannabis seeds and plants don't just magically appear out of thin air.

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Yeah, had my fair share of doors slammed in my face by banks, etc. 
I think that''s why so many of these private dagga clubs are trying to create their own in house currencies. So that they can mask their transactions from financial institutions.

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1 hour ago, THCSA said:

Yeah, had my fair share of doors slammed in my face by banks, etc. 
I think that''s why so many of these private dagga clubs are trying to create their own in house currencies. So that they can mask their transactions from financial institutions.

Such things have been going on for years already, various forms of currency / money.

 

Crypto has helped to make it a bit easier for the "average Joe" but still isn't quite ideal in many regards and often comes with a learning curve and not everyone understands it and then the issue of how stable the currency is.

 

We will get there though, we're already making good progress. In a few years time we'll probably look back and laugh at the situation.

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