cannabisnews.com: Capetonian Urges Cannabis Homes





Capetonian Urges Cannabis Homes
Posted by CN Staff on May 01, 2003 at 12:49:37 PT
South African Press Association (Johannesburg)
Source: Panafrica News Agency 
Cape Town: A Capetonian who believes homes made of cannabis are an answer to South Africa's housing problem, plans to hand over a petition to the office of the Public Protector on Friday.Andre du Plessis is also co-ordinating a march through the city centre on Saturday morning, to coincide with what he says will be worldwide calls for a more liberal approach to the plant.
The petition describes cannabis -- a plant genus that includes what South Africans know as dagga -- as "a sustainable agricultural option for economic empowerment" and calls for government departments to participate in a forum to develop policy "more in keeping with international trends".Du Plessis said on Wednesday that cannabis mixed with lime was currently used for home construction and insulation in France and Germany, and that it had a long history as a building material.The 1500-year-old Hagia Sofia basillica in Turkey was "the world's longest-standing dagga building", he said.He himself had built a scale model dome of cannabis in a Newlands back garden, which had proved strong enough to take the weight of a 4X4 vehicle.But for a full-scale prototype he needed three tons of the stuff.He had been trying for years to get the Agricultural Research Council, which has a licence to grow cannabis, to work with him."They still haven't delivered one kilogram that I can use to test with," he said."All I'm trying to do is build some affordable housing for those people who live in shanty towns. That's my angle on it."He also said cannabis had medical uses, and that for Africa, it was the cheapest way to get full-blown HIV-positive patients to eat again."Cannabis is Africa's best choice for an affordable Aids drug, something that can help control pain and alleviate the illness."Du Plessis said the petition he would hand over on Friday had been signed by people ranging from politicians and surgeons to "folk from the street".There were also one or two dagga growers."They have put their names down, but they haven't put a contact address," he said.Newshawk: DruidSource: Panafrica News Agency (Africa Wire)Published: May 1, 2003Copyright: 2003 AllAfrica Global MediaWebsite: http://allafrica.com/Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/12CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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