Draft Cannabis Regulations (2025): What They Mean & Why Your Voice Matters

Draft Cannabis Regulations (2025):
When the Maths Doesn’t Math (and Why Your Voice Matters) 🌿

South Africa’s draft cannabis regulations were published in February 2026, and they’re open for public comment until 5 March 2026.

At first glance, they look neat and orderly.
Numbers. Limits. Rules.

But once you apply them to real humans, real gardens, and real learning curves, things start to unravel — gently, awkwardly, and a little absurdly.

Let’s talk about it.

🌿 The 80/20 Summary (Read This First)

What’s happening: New draft regulations set limits on how much cannabis adults may possess, grow, and transport.

Why it matters: The rules affect everyday privacy, personal cultivation, and how safely people can participate in something that is now legal.

The problem: The numbers assume every cannabis plant behaves the same. They don’t.

The opportunity: Public comment is open — and common-sense feedback is not only allowed, it’s needed.

📩 MMokulubete@justice.gov.za

🗓️ Comments close 5 March 2026

 

 

What Are the Draft Cannabis Regulations?

These regulations sit under the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, 2024, which exists to give effect to the Constitutional Court ruling that private cannabis use falls under the right to privacy.

The draft regulations aim to clarify:
• How much cannabis adults may possess
• How many plants may be grown at home
• How cannabis may be transported
• How old cannabis convictions may be expunged

On paper, this sounds reasonable.

In practice… well, let’s look closer.

The Numbers Problem (a.k.a. Plant Counting)

According to the draft regulations:
• Adults may grow up to 5 cannabis plants
• Adults may possess up to 750g of cannabis

Sounds fine — until you ask one simple question:

How much does a cannabis plant actually yield?

Spoiler: it depends. A lot.

A new grower might get:
• 10–30g per plant
• Sometimes less
• Sometimes nothing at all

An experienced grower might get:
• 150g per plant
• 300g per plant
• Or far more, depending on conditions

Now let’s do the maths.

New grower reality:
5 plants × 30g = 150g total - Nowhere near 750g.

Experienced grower reality:
5 plants × 200g = 1,000g+ Suddenly illegal — using the same plant limit.

This is where the regulations stop reflecting reality.

 

Same law. Same number of plants. Completely different outcome.

 

Why Plant Counting Doesn’t Reflect Real Life

Cannabis plants are not identical widgets on a factory line.

 

Plant counting doesn’t reflect real life — it reflects paperwork.

 

They vary by:
• Genetics
• Skill level
• Indoor vs outdoor
• Weather
• Mistakes (many mistakes)

Counting plants instead of focusing on reasonable possession:
• Penalises experience
• Punishes learning
• Encourages waste
• Creates accidental criminality

Ironically, it’s the new grower — the one the law should be supporting — who is least likely to ever reach the legal possession limit.

Privacy, But With a Ruler and a Scale?

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act is clear about one thing: it exists to respect the right to privacy of adults.

But the draft regulations introduce:
• Detailed transport rules
• Disclosure requirements
• Strict numerical limits

 

At what point does regulating private life turn into supervising it?

 

When plants must be counted and weight must be measured, it starts to feel less like privacy, and more like probation.

Transport Rules: Technically Legal, Practically Nervous

Under the draft rules:
• Cannabis must be hidden from view
• You may not inspect or handle it while driving
• Passengers must be informed

This raises real questions:
• What counts as “inspection”?
• What if something shifts in the container?
• What if you’re pulled over and asked questions?

Rules that rely heavily on interpretation don’t protect privacy — they invite discretion.

Clearing Old Records: A Step Forward, With Speed Bumps

The regulations outline how people can apply to have old cannabis convictions expunged.

This matters.

But the process requires paperwork and waiting — and for many people, that remains a barrier.

This Isn’t About Being Difficult

Commenting on draft regulations isn’t activism. It’s participation.

You’re allowed to say:
• “This number doesn’t reflect reality.”
• “This rule doesn’t account for learning curves.”
• “This creates confusion instead of clarity.”

You don’t need legal jargon.
You just need to describe real life.

How to Make Your Voice Heard

Public comments close 5 March 2026.

Email your feedback to:
📩 MMokulubete@justice.gov.za

Department of Justice & Constitutional Development

 

When laws ignore how things actually work, people don’t become safer — they become uncertain.

 

A few honest paragraphs are enough.

A Grounded Way Forward

Cannabis is legal in South Africa. That’s a meaningful shift.

Now the rules that follow need to:
• Reflect real cultivation outcomes
• Respect learning curves
• Avoid unnecessary supervision of private life
• Focus on harm reduction, not plant counting

Privacy should feel like freedom — not like probation.