Cannabis tourism in South Africa
High Times recently published a report in the Journal of Leisure Studies on a research paper entitled "Cannabis Use in Tourism: A Sociological Perspective". They found four major groups of cannabis-consuming tourists. Read more.
The fact is that many travelers don’t just come to South Africa for the spectacular scenery or to visit Nelson Mandela’s Prison Cell on Robben Island or to experience the wall-to wall wildlife – many come to sample some of its more exotic, natural produce – cannabis sativa - known in South Africa as dagga. In fact these travlelers become members of the growing cannabis tourism fraternity.
Dagga is illegal in South Africa
Dagga (dried leaves of the cannabis plant) - pronounced "dugger" with the "gg" pronounced gutturally as in the Scottish loch - is South Africa's most widely produced and widely used drug.
Three undeniable South African cannabis tourism facts:
- the quality is generally good
- it is not expensive
- it is illegal.
The most famous of all strains of South African cannabis must be the renowned Durban Poison, or DP. According to marijuanastrains.com, Durban Poison is a real good outdoor and indoor marijuana strain.
Grown plentifully in hot regions like KwaZulu-Natal (hence the name, Durban Poison), Swaziland (Swazi Gold) and as cash crops in parts of the former Transkei, now called the Wild Coast, marijuana is fairly easily available. It also grows prolifically in very poor and mountainous soil and yields lucrative cash crops to sometimes very poor communities.
Commercializing marijuana and cannabis tourism
The commercialization of what could be one of South Africa’s most popular exports will have to wait until marijuana is decriminalized, but meanwhile South African dagga is being sold especially through countries like the Netherlands where Durban Poison and DP seeds fetch high prices.
South African weed smokers boast on a message board about how plentiful and cheap the “sacred herb” is in their country.
For tourists to South Africa who do decide to partake of the weed; take particular care when scoring, as visitors have run into trouble dealing with unfamiliar local conditions.
In South Africa much of the dagga on the streets is sold in small plastic bank bags, generally known as bankies. It is reasonably inexpensive and the price depends on the quality.
South African slang associated with the cannabis subculture:
Bankie (Bank packet). The plastic packets that banks issue coins in are a common receptacle for a dagga stash. Bankies, stoppe, slopes, cobbs, sticks, blunts, matchboxes, arms, bricks are just a few of the standard packaging categories in the marijuana sub-culture of South Africa. “We scored a bankie." (We bought a bank packet full of ganja).
Zol (reefer). The “cigarette” that the marijuana is rolled into with “blades” or Rizlas (cigarette papers). Spliff, skyf, (rhymes with safe), doob, two-blader and slowboat are other names. Smokers also use a bong or a bottleneck (kind of pipe). "To make a bottleneck properly, you take ... Read more.
Dagga (cannabis sativa). Other names are boom, weed, hash, majat (a low grade dagga), poison, ganja, Swazi Gold, Malawi Gold, Malawi Cob ( the best of the best), Transkei, Durban Poison.
Remember, cannabis is illegal in South Africa and whether it will become decriminalized soon or not, at the moment, possession is a criminal offense.
Preferred Cannabis Tourism destinations in Southern Africa:
Karen Lotter - Karen Lotter is a journalist and writer based in Durban, South Africa. She has written profiles, features, advertising copy, ...
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