The Zimbabwean government has issued licences to 37 cannabis growers as the country moves to harness the economic value of the controversial plant.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant used for medical or recreational purposes, and it is for the ‘recreational purposes’ that the plant is largely abused.
The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol, one of 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids
But the economic benefits of a legal marijuana industry are compelling, with the cannabis industry being a billion-dollar industry in countries such as Canada and some states in the United States of America.
In April last year, Zimbabwe become only the second African country to legalize marijuana for medical and scientific purposes.
Said the country’s deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Vangelis Haritatos recently:
“With regards to cannabis we have legalised issuance of licences in respect of cannabis production. It’s been quite a stringent process. I am on the steering committee and I can tell you that we have interviewed no less than 200 companies including Zimbabwean and foreign companies,” said the deputy Minister.
We are basically doing a pilot project, where Cabinet has approved 37 licences to be issued. These will be issued in 12 months and it’s going to be a very closely guarded.”
The Zimbabwe government legalised the production of cannabis for medicinal or scientific purposes in a Government Gazette yesterday under Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018 (Dangerous Drugs – Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations).
In terms of that regulation, the producer licence will be valid for five years and may be renewed thereafter before its expiry.
SI-62 of 2018 has also set out that the responsible Minister has powers to audit the activities of the licensed producer with respect to cannabis.
“The application shall also contain the following – (a) if applicable, the maximum quantity expressed as net weight in grammes of fresh cannabis, dried cannabis, cannabis oil to be produced by the applicant under the licence and the production period . . . and the maximum number of cannabis plants to be sold or provided by the applicant under the licence and the period in which that quantity is to be sold or provided,” read the part of the regulations.
Additionally, in case of an application for a licence to sell or provide fresh cannabis or cannabis oil under, the applicant must provide the Minister before commencing to sell or provide the substance, with the dried cannabis equivalence factor determined under Section 73 and the method that they used to determine it.