The Drug Enforcement Commission has insisted that cultivation of cannabis in Zambia remains illegal.
DEC Spokesperson Theresa Katongo said following the statement made by Home Affairs Minister Steven Kampyongo on medicinal cannabis to Parliament recently, the Commission has been receiving numerous queries from members of the public on whether his statement meant that cultivation of cannabis has been legalised in Zambia.
“We wish to clarify that cannabis cultivation is still illegal in Zambia unless one has lawful authority to cultivate for medicinal purposes as indicated in the Ministers statement,” Ms Katongo said.
“Section 9 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Cap 96 of the Laws of Zambia provides that any person who, without lawful authority, cultivates any plant which can be used or consumed as a Narcotic or Psychotropic, or from which a Narcotic Drug or Psychotropic Substance can be extracted, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not less than five hundred penalty units or to imprisonment not exceeding ten years or to both: provided that no person shall be guilty of the offence under this section if the plant is cultivated for purposes of medicine or is not on a substantial scale.”
Ms. Katongo said the Commission shall continue with its mandate of arresting persons found cultivating cannabis without lawful authority.
“We further wish to urge members of the public to familiarise themselves with the provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act Cap 95 of the Laws of Zambia and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Cap 96 of the Laws of Zambia,” she said.
Lusakatimes, your heading is misleading. Mr Katongo is actually agreeing with the minister’s statement.
@ MyZambia, Mr Katongo?? What have you been smoking? Unless Theresa by some statutory instrument is now a masculine name, please spare us your confusion.
My Zambia is already showing he is a beneficiary of marijuana. Just legalise it so that we all go into profitable farming.
Dec < PF cadres
So this is a worthless statement.
Thanks
BB2014,16
Mujajati is giving licences to cultivate. I saw him wearing a Polo uniform, he’s always high. He cant even ride a pony.
@1. This is the danger of smoking marijuana, even women like Theresa looks like Mr.
Worse is when Kapyongo looks like Mrs.
Ibange libi sana..
Dobo is God given. I just had ‘A’ grade morning joint from civilized Mpezeni Kingdom, whr it’s always been legal since 2017 BC
Lets do some business with weed.
From the incoherent statments on LT from resident PF kaponya Bloggers one can only conclude they have been caltivating, harvesting and grading their weed for a long time now.
Ba DEC, that law must be repealed! Do you think God in His Infinite wisdom made a mistake to create that noble weed? This ignorance is what keeps this country very poor. We need to think outside the box. What we want to hear from DEC is legislation against ABUSE and not medicinal USE. For example, it is a great drug against cancer. It is not like the conventional chemotherapy that kills both healthy and cancerous cells. It spares the normal cells, improves patient appetite, does not cause hair loss, improves pain control, keeps patients in the happy state and can forget their cancer troubles, promotes rain cell health! This is just one of the many benefits. Surprisingly, alcohol is killing more people together with Tobacco but there is no legislation against growing of Maize and Tobacco…
The statement says unlawful cultivation is not allowed in Zambia. This means that you can cultivate by obtaining legal documents like a license.
Surprisingly, alcohol is killing more people together with Tobacco but there is no legislation against growing of Maize and Tobacco. Why? Our friends are cashing in bigger than sales from Copper and Gold and we are ndwii playing holy and hypocrisy. Hypocrisy will sink this country! By the time we wake up, the price will be worthless! That’s the speed of business!
Cap 96 of the laws of Zambia provides that any person who without LAWFUL AUTHORITY……now here there’s authority from the ministry and to do this one only requires a license and boom you are authorised to cultivate simple.
Can you spot the difference:
“Cannabis cultivation is illegal in Zambia if you do not have a license”
“Cannabis cultivation is legal in Zambia if you have a license”
@Pompi I think people missed the point about MEDICINAL…
Cultivation might become legai with permit for medicinal but is there not a law that peohibits consumption and possessio. Any blogger know
DEC you’re enemies of progress…