By Everson Luhanga
- Sick patients cannot buy cannabis freely and must use doctors to get special approval for the unregistered medicine they need.
- A company called Bassani Health in Midrand has spent over R330-million to legally grow and supply medical cannabis through pharmacies.
Sick people who need medical cannabis are struggling to get the medicine easily.
They cannot simply go to a shop and buy it when they need it. Instead, patients must visit doctors and get special permission. This takes a lot of time and costs extra money.
South Africa only has a few legal ways for patients to get this medicine. The main way is called Section 21. This rule allows a doctor to ask for permission to give a patient medicine that is not yet fully registered.
The cannabis industry in the country is still unclear. Experts say many businesses operate without full approval. Some businesses only do part of the work legally.
But Bassani Health, a business based in Midrand, has taken a different path. The company has spent years building a fully licensed system.
They have permission to grow the plants, make the products and supply them to pharmacies. These kinds of licences are rare and very hard to get.
Bassani says it works strictly within the law. It supplies its cannabis products to patients through pharmacies instead of using informal markets.
To meet the country’s strict health standards, the company has spent over R330-million building its facilities.
As the rules for cannabis businesses get stricter, companies have to spend more money to obey the law before selling to patients.
For now, sick patients are the ones who carry the burden. Access remains limited, and the high prices keep it out of reach for many people.
Pictured above: Medical cannabis.
Image source: Supplied
