Beloved Cape Town nursery sells cannabis plants to the public

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Visitors to the Stodels nursery in Bellville over the past week may have spotted a familiar-looking ‘weed’ on sale.

Growboxes filled with cannabis seedlings are now on display, and customers can own their own their own dagga plant for a paltry R150.

“Customers have been very intrigued with the seedlings,” De Wet Coetzee, Head of Buying & Marketing, told The South African.

“The stigma attached to cannabis is definitely changing, and people are a lot more open to the idea of owning and growing cannabis seeds and seedlings.”

Cannabis seedlings for sale: A legal loophole or smart business?

So, how is Stodels able to pull this off you wonder?

In a significant stride towards cannabis reform, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, just a day before the May 2024 general elections.

While the move didn’t help the ruling African National Congress hold onto its majority, it made South Africa the first African nation to legalise the use of marijuana.

This groundbreaking reform has been in the works since 2018, following the Constitutional Court’s landmark decision to decriminalise the private use of cannabis.

Now with National Assembly approval, the legislation permits adults to cultivate and consume cannabis privately.

The Department of Trade and Industry is working on a commercial strategy so that individuals and businesses can benefit from a sector that is estimated to be worth R28 billion.

In the meantime, the Act does not explicitly ban the sale of seeds or seedlings.

“The cannabis plants we sold in our Bellville garden centre were not adult plants, but rather seedlings,” Coetzee says.

Stodels has in fact been selling grow-at-home cannabis kits since getting the greenlight in 2019.

Medicinal properties

Medicinal marijuana meanwhile was legalised in South Africa in 2017. To that end, Stodels’ offering addresses a range of ailments.

“We’ve sold six different strains of seedlings—some to lower blood pressure, some to improve sleep and some to improve one’s mood,” Coetzee added.

“It is our intention to display and present these seedlings to our customers in a way that helps them understand the difference by means of stands and signage.”

Cannabis sativa has been used to treat chronic pain, inflammation and to manage stress and anxiety. Image: Supplied

Hemp on the other hand—a close genetic relative of cannabis—has been widely cultivated for commercial use in South Africa and other African nations for several years.

As far as legislation goes, South Africa has a separate framework for medical and industrial cannabis under the Medicines and Related Substances Act and Department of Agriculture regulations.

In November a change in government oversight on cannabis has also helped farmers to cultivate compliant hemp crops. Read more on that story here.