ABOUT THE CANNACLUB STOKVEL

We, the founding members and all subsequent members of The CannaClub (“The CannaClub”) —

 

1. recognise that:

1.1. the right to privacy enshrined in section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (“the SA Constitution”) encompasses the right of consenting adults to cultivate, use and possess Cannabis in private for purposes of their personal consumption in private (“the privacy-based Cannabis rights”);

1.2. the privacy-based Cannabis rights do not extend to any activities connected with dealing in Cannabis or profiting from the sale or other trade of Cannabis – that such activities remain strictly illegal in terms of Drugs and Drugs Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 (“Drugs Act”);

1.3. notwithstanding—

1.3.1. the cogent, overarching guidelines outlined in the Constitutional Court’s Prince Privacy Judgment concerning the lawful exercise of the privacy-based Cannabis rights; and 

1.3.2. the fact that Parliament is presently finalising a more permanent and sensible legal framework for the lawful means, modalities and parameters for the exercise of the privacy-based Cannabis rights in the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, 2020,

1.4. there is presently a lacuna regarding specific laws for the safe, responsible and informed exercise of the privacy-based Cannabis rights;

1.5. the legal question regarding the extent to which an adult may, in private, cultivate Cannabis on behalf of another adult and under the auspices of the ‘Grow Club Model’ is the subject of a litigious appeal process presently pending in the High Court system in South Africa;

1.6. this present legal lacuna unjustly compels many existing and consenting adult Cannabis users – who seek the requisite knowledge, skills and resources of others in accessing their constitutional rights to privately cultivate and personally and privately consume Cannabis – to resort to organised and other criminal, unregulated and unsafe activities in order to exercise their constitutionally protected right to consume Cannabis in private, a result that the learned judges in the Prince Privacy judgment could not have intended;

 

2. therefore, believe that:

2.1. a reasonable (logical, practical and legitimate) and necessary implication of the Prince Privacy Judgment, is that people who satisfy The CannaClub membership criteria must be permitted to transparently exercise their corollary right to freedom of association enshrined in section 18 of the SA Constitution and voluntarily establish and participate in conscious, educational and community-driven, non-profit associations, such as The CannaClub, which functions as a private Cannabis Social Club—

2.1.1. in conformity with the European Guidelines for Cannabis Social Clubs developed by the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD), which in turn—

2.1.1.1. require the cultivation, processing and consumption of Cannabis to all take place at the private premises of the Cannabis Social Club; and 

2.1.1.2. prohibit franchising of and any form of dealing at the Cannabis Social Club;

2.1.1.3. require that the Cannabis Social Club be non-profit based and have active community empowerment or involvement initiatives; and

2.1.1.4. as a Stokvel, distinguishable in numerous material and demonstrable respects from the ‘Grow Club Model’,

3. and have established The CannaClub as a non-profit voluntary association, with its own legal personality separate from those of its members, with the public purpose objectives and other corporate and operational governance and related mechanisms and safeguards provided in the body of this Constitution.

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Not everyone has the inclination/ time/ skills/ knowledge/ space/ soil/ security/ water/ health or permission to grow their own medicinal or recreational organic Cannabis. Furthermore there is the question of harvesting/ drying/ curing/ packaging/ trimming and storage of the produce to be considered. Finally the question of availability of high value female strains.  Due to the above reasons many, especially those who rely on Cannabis for medicinal use, will elect to appoint a Private Social Cannabis Club to provide the gardening & processing services as mentioned on their behalf.

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The CannaClub supports all advancement of the Cannabis culture & movement. Therefore The CannaClub supports all Private Social Cannabis Clubs/ Cultivators and all plausible Private Social Cannabis Club models including those of: Grow One Africa/ Fields of Green/ The Haze Club... Even though the legality of some of these models still have to be, or are currently being tested in a Court of Law. 

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