Why is Cannabis Oil in South Africa so Expensive?
Medical grade Cannabis oil is expensive because the material used to make the oils, i.e. medical grade cannabis, is not cheap. At best it takes 10 grams of medical grade cannabis to make 1 gram (1000mg) of oil. The cannabis won’t yield that percentage if it’s not medical grade and also would not produce good quality medicine.
Jun 05, 2016
How much does a gram of decent cannabis cost today?
One can expect to pay the same price for recreationally used high grade (top quality) preferably indoor cannabis. The average price per single gram is R150 and anywhere between R75 to R120 on bulk purchases.
Most if not all cannabis grown in SA is for the recreational market, not medical purposes. This kind of cannabis is very high in THC – the compound that makes someone get ‘high’ – with little Cannabidiol CBD (the cannabinoid with the most impressive medical benefits). You are also not going to find a high CBD or a 1:1 (CBD: THC) content unless it was grown specifically for medical purposes.
The other factor adding to the cost of cannabis oil is our unique production process. Certain old school methods like the popular but basic DIY Rick Simpson method (RSO) produces a thick black oil which may contain chemical byproducts. It takes years of experience, sophisticated equipment, labour, knowledge and more to achieve top quality cannabis oil. We prefer more expensive but cleaner methods of extracting cannabis oil, such as CO2 extraction. These methods require more expertise and, most importantly, expensive, specialised equipment to process the oil.
The methods preferred by Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary is on par with those used in legal states of America and if you are fortunate enough to find an oil maker that uses this or similar techniques, it is worth paying a little extra (R900 upward per gram).
Some people choose to buy mediocre quality oil made with the Rick Simpson (RSO) method and stored in a syringe for R3500 for 5ml – that’s R700 a gram. Rick Simpson’s suggested guideline for the consumption of oils to treat cancer is 90 grams in 90 days, which will end up costing you R63 000 at R700 a gram.
The problem is people seem to have this notion that a syringe full of ‘some oil’ is going to possibly cure them of cancer. Unfortunately, how patients respond varies and this treatment is not always the silver bullet people hope for. It’s a case of taking as much as possible in as short a time frame as possible and as soon as possible. That is why we recommend a specific protocol of introducing different types of cannabis oil and getting a scan after three months to see if there has been an improvement. Some people have needed to use cannabis oils for less than two months and others for up to six months.
Please feel free to contact us with your questions below or visit our Product Guide for more information on the most-trusted, healthiest and highest-quality products on the market.
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