In September, South Africa became the third country on the continent to pass a ruling favoring cannabis. Last month, Canada fully legalized its use. The world of business and medicine is slowly awakening to its benefits, weeding fact from fiction.
House of Tandoor, a trendy rooftop bar that pulsates with life on the weekends, with reggae music, dancers and cannabis smokers disappearing under thick clouds of smoke, is as quiet as a church when we visit on a Monday morning.
It is situated on Rockey Street in the vibrant, often-chaotic suburb of Yeoville in Johannesburg. This area is a hub for expatriates and small business owners plying their trade at informal markets.
Inside the bar at House of Tandoor on this September day is a tall, elderly man with a long beard, lost in the pages of a newspaper and smoking a joint.
It has been two weeks since the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg decriminalized the personal consumption of cannabis in private spaces.
In this small suburb, cannabis has always been an open secret, savored not-too-discreetly in the smoky beer dens and even openly on the streets. Regulars swear this is where you find the best cannabis in town.
For 23 years, the tall man with the beard at the bar named Eric Mpobole has been a cannabis activist in South Africa. He is the coowner of House of Tandoor.
“Here in Yeoville, this is a ganja village. It has been so for two decades. So for the government to decriminalize [ganja]… we decriminalized it a long time ago,” he tells FORBES AFRICA, exhaling smoke.
More than two decades ago, Mpobole started out at House of Tandoor as a sound engineer and DJ, with Langa Mradu.
In 2002, the two took over the place turning it into a hotspot for people wanting to sway to reggae music, indulge in a game of pool, and smoke a joint (rolled cannabis) or two.
Born and bred in the township of Soweto in Orlando East, to Rastafarian parents, Mpobole had his first taste of cannabis at the age of 13.
“I didn’t become Rastafarian, I was born Rasta,” he says.
この記事は Forbes Africa の November 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Forbes Africa の November 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
TRACK, WATCH, BEFRIEND
IN THE PRISTINE WILDERNESS OF GABON ARE THE MAJESTIC AND GENTLE WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS. A FIRSTHAND REPORT FROM OUR TRAVEL WRITER ON WHAT GOES INTO HABITUATING THEM.
CHALLENGING BUT NECESSARY: THE AI BALANCING PROBLEM
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues transforming many industries, providing unprecedented opportunities for innovation and efficiency. However, these advancements bring complex challenges that necessitate a delicate balancing act.
BEYOND ACADEMIA: THE SOCIETAL IMPACT OF MULTILATERAL EDUCATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
The great poet William Butler Yeats once said, \"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.\"
The Business Of Dance: Embracing One's Individuality And Style
In the dynamic world of street dance, passion and perseverance pave the way for success. Living out this ethos is South African born B-girl turned businesswoman, Courtnaé Paul.
COMPASSION FATIGUE: THE DANGEROUS DESCENT FROM HELPING TO HURTING
It is a workplace reality that caring too much for your colleagues can hurt you.
IT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL TO FIND OUR NICHE
Have you found your niche? I received a lot of advice when I set up my company, but perhaps the most important consisted of just three words: Find Your Niche.
HOW TO MAKE AFRICA WIN OFF THE FIELD TOO
When all else fails, try sports. It's good for the soul.
BEAN THERE, DONE THAT
British author Roald Dahl tapped into every chocoholic's imagination when creating Willy Wonka's bizarre chocolate factory in his 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN WORKING WITH AL PACINO ON BROADWAY'
Arnold Vosloo Actor
BLENDED FINANCE: BRIDGING THE GAP IN EMERGING MARKETS IN SUPPORT OF THE SDGS
Amid the widespread global support for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there was an underlying concern among economists and financial advisors in the emerging and frontier markets: public sector and donor funds were stalled, if not regressing, and the funding gap to realize the SDGs was increasing.
