So.... we find ourselves in a weird situation within South Africa as Canna culture is starting to come alive after the Constitutional Court judgement of 2018 although barriers still exist for how this is lived.
The Apex court ruled that personal use of cannabis is no longer a criminal offence which in effect then created the path for the Canna industry to open up. The challenge within the industry locally though is still the misconceptions about the plant and also the negative stigmas still attached to this. Furthermore, there still seems to be a blanket approach within the social media and internet media to not promote cannabis related topics in the same way as Tobacco is censored. A very real example of this is the inability of businesses, such as Goodsmoke, to use advertising platforms such as Google, Facebook, (and yes, even Tiktok) to promote our Canna related products and services - even in the case of Glass bongs.
There is some good news though in that more people are starting to talk about the subject publicly and this should in time allow for more acceptance and open discussion. Although numerous Facebook groups exist around the topic they do seem to need to walk a tightrope in content to prevent removal of their groups.
This though brings me to a young pioneering couple, Matt and Nomy, who are living the canna culture openly through their social media channels. Most prominent is their Canna Youtube Channel, as well as their Instagram profile - Herbal_Therapy - where they do product and strain reviews. This is actually really heartwarming considering the lack of support from the likes of Youtube and Google where the algorithms unfortunately play a massive role in how your channel is promoted and therefore allowed to grow. This young couple is a great example of how South African influencers are starting to live, and reflect, canna living and we expect to see them rise to bigger "Highs" as more people start openly living the canna life!
Please give them a follow, like, subscribe, wave, happy face...all of those!
1 comment
Thank you for fantastic article. It is time to be more open about the cana culture and destigmatize it.