Zimbabwe eyes cannabis-based medical products market

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Zimbabwe eyes cannabis-based medical products market

Zimbabwe is poised to sell cannabis-based medical products for the first time as the southern African country eyes the industry as the industry valued at Sh 148.5 billion $1.25 billion. The Medicines Control of Zimbabwe MCZ has opened applications for cannabis and hemp producers, manufacturers, importers, exporters, and retail pharmacists.

In 2018 the debt-ridden nation became one of the first African countries to legalise cannabis, but little has been done since the commercial production of the drug.

The MCZ 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 leading producers of tobacco in the world, is considering a shift from the golden leaf to cannabis as the tobacco ban lobby continues to grow momentum.

By the year 2025, industry players have set a target for tobacco farmers to make sure that cannabis contributes a quarter of their income.

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 abolished the ban on the cultivation of cannabis for commercial purposes and granted the first license for medical cannabis production the same year.

In the last year, the country exported 30 tons of industrial hemp to Switzerland.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned Sh 3.2 billion $27 million medical cannabis farm and processing plant owned by Swiss Bioceuticals Limited this year.

He said that 57 entities had been issued cannabis production licenses and 15 of them were already operational.

Advocates of the use of cannabis-based products say that 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 attempts to fight rampant drug abuse among young people.