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| Colorado organic weed guru Cloud Shadowshot (left) meets his counterpart in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Krithi Thaver. |
DURBAN North now hosts the first medicinal cannabis dispensary in Africa.
We can reveal today that the dagga dispensary is the first of its kind on the continent.
But don’t expect to buy any cannabis buds at the Holistic Relief Wellness and Pain Management Centre.
Instead a doctor, chiropractor or traditional healer will consult and prescribe different strengths of oils infused with cannabis and ayurvedic ingredients to their patients.
These practitioners will schedule only five patients at the same time.
Krithi Thaver, founder of Canna Culture and chair of the KZN branch of the Cannabis Development Council of SA, said the aim of the dispensary is to set a benchmark for soon-to-be-legalised cannabis.
“Our treatment regimens combine traditional medical practices in chiropractics, physiotherapy, diseases and illnesses (acute and chronic) to treat the whole body. The practitioners at this centre are all medical professionals who have thoroughly researched the extensive medical uses of cannabis and have enthusiastically embraced its potential benefits.”
He added a growing number of studies show cannabis can be used safely, with zero to minimal negative side effects for a wide range of curative benefits and successful pain management of any severity.
“The global consensus is growing that the hemp crop is in fact a ‘miracle’ plant and we are immensely pleased to be able to finally offer this ‘miracle’ to Durban,” said Thaver.
He said the dispensary has extended invitations to both KZN’s health administrators and legal enforcers to attend the official opening in the near future.
As long as possession of any part of the indigenous dagga plant remains illegal, patients need to be referred.
“Marley coffee” and edibles will be sold in a cafe area.
(First published in Weekend Witness, 12 May 2018).
Author's note: This was written during the funeral service for the best mielie mampoer (moonshine) distiller in Vrede, Human de Jager. After almost 80 cold winters in Frankfort, former sheep farmer Human joins his ancestors, whose names are engraved on the plinth for Boer War soldiers outside the 1838 Nederduitz Gereformeerde church in the pastoral town of Vrede in the Free State, South Africa. Vat kort en toer ver oom Human! (Hold tight and tour far, uncle Human!)
