Hemp is not marijuana: how South African law draws the line

Industrial hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa L. The legal distinction is THC content, not appearance. Hemp cultivated under permit sits below the regulated THC threshold and is grown for fibre, seed and non-intoxicating extracts.

For a pharmacy or retailer, this matters in two places: the cultivation permit behind the raw material, and the product registration behind the finished goods. We keep both on file per batch, which is what a compliance officer will ask for.

Nothing in our cosmetics range is intoxicating. The hempseed oil that does the work in our body butters contains no meaningful cannabinoid content at all — it is pressed from seed, and its value is the fatty acid profile.