IT seems we may be finally having that chat about dagga. President Jacob Zuma has told the National Assembly that Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has been instructed to investigate the possibility of legalising medical marijuana.
His announcement on Thursday was warmly applauded. It followed an earnest appeal to this effect the day before by the terminally-ill IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, who has stage four lung cancer.
It's as bad as it gets; there is no stage five.
But Oriani-Ambrosini claimed that his use of THC - or TetraHydroCannabinol, dagga's psychoactive element - has extended his life expectancy "beyond what statistics say. I am now in the 0.01% survival rate. . ."
Speaking to the media about the Medical Innovation Bill, which he introduced to decriminalise medical marijuana, Oriani-Ambrosini revealed he had been treated in Europe at unregistered private, cash-only clinics and that, as he couldn't smoke, he'd been taking THC as a suppository. A pack of 30 tablets, he added, cost him R60 000.
This is patently absurd when you consider how cheap and how easy it is to get your hands on dagga in this country. The stuff really does, uh, grow on trees. Sort of.