The first man to get a legal prescription of marijuana in South Africa is Kwanda Mtetwa.
In an interview with eNCA, the 32-year-old Mtetwa mentioned that he suffered manifold injuries subsequent to a 2011 motorbike crash and became dependent on pain medication.
“I was bedridden for eight months and relying on heavy pain medication. My mood shifted and my character changed … I wasn’t eating and grew thin. The whole time the pain continued, and I didn’t sleep for days”.
He added that the medication was burning his stomach, “I started looking for an alternative pain relief” as a result he turned to cannabis to avoid addiction.
By that time cannabis was still illegal in South Africa. Mtetwa admitted to purchasing illegal cannabis 7 years ago which also did not work for him, so he opted to grow his own.
He ordered the seed from a European site online.
He is now a medical cannabis activist lecture at Cheeba Cannabis Academy.
Mtetwa has a cannabis permit with a unique scannable QR code to access his information.
He further mentioned that he can now blunt publicly with no worries of the authorities.
