Zimbabwe clears the way for medical products for first time
Zimbabwe has cleared the way for medical products to be sold for the first time as the southern African country looks at the industry value of Sh 148.5 billion, $1.25 billion. The Medicines Control of Zimbabwe MCZ has opened applications for cannabis and hemp producers, manufacturers, exporters, and retail pharmacists.
In 2018, the nation became one of the first African countries to legalise cannabis, but little has been done since to allow commercial production of the drug.
The MCZ has released regulations that will guide investments in the sector as the country sanctioned by the West, banks on the growing global cannabis market.
The country, which is one of the biggest producers of tobacco in the world, is considering a shift from the golden leaf to cannabis because of the global tobacco ban lobby.
By 2025, tobacco farmers will have a quarter of their income due to the fact that they have set a target for them.
The country earned Sh 97.29 billion $819 million from tobacco exports last year, making it one of Zimbabwe's biggest foreign currency earners.
In 2019 Zimbabwe loosened the ban on the cultivation of cannabis for commercial purposes and granted the first license for medical cannabis production the same year.
The country exported 30 tons of industrial hemp to Switzerland last year.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa this year commissioned Sh 3.2 billion $27 million medical cannabis farm and processing plant owned by Swiss Bioceuticals Limited.
He said 57 entities had been issued cannabis production licenses and 15 of them were already operational.
Advocates of the use of cannabis-based products say they can be used to treat chronic pain, inflammation, migraines, epilepsy, depression and anxiety, among other ailments.
The use of cannabis for recreational purposes remains outlawed in Zimbabwe and thousands of people have been arrested this year for illegally cultivating the crop as the country tries to fight rampant drug abuse among young people.