By Antonio Mwanza
On 16th December, 2019 the Government announced that cabinet had in principle legalized the cultivation, processing and sell of marijuana for medicinal and commercial purposes only. This announcement set social media ablaze with comments, memes and of course some misinformation.
From the onset it is important to clarify that Government has not outlawed the existing laws governing the cultivation, sell or use of marijuana. In short the cultivation, consumption and sell of marijuana remain prohibited under the current laws.
There has also been misinformation that a colossal fee of $250, 000 has been set as licence fee for those who would want to venture into the cannabis business. The truth is that no such amount has been suggested. What Government has done is to set up a Ministerial Committee of experts from the Ministries of Health, Home Affairs, Agriculture, Finance and others to come up with an operational framework of how the cultivation, processing and sell of marijuana shall be done in a controlled manner in line with our existing statutes.
Marijuana has proven to be a money spinner that can turn economies around in the shortest of times. According to available data, the legal trade of cannabis or marijuana can fetch as high as 32 dollars per gram which is nearly 32 million dollars per tonne. The 2018 Cannabis Price Index compiled on WeedIndex.io shows that the price of Cannabis in Tokyo is the highest in the World at 32 point 66 dollar per gram.
In the United States the Marijuana Industry totaled more than $8 billion in sales in 2017, with sales estimated to reach $11 billion this year and $23 billion by 2022.
There were more than 9,000 active licenses for cannabis businesses in the U.S. in 2017, with the industry employing more than 120,000 people.
As more states move to legalize cannabis, these numbers will only continue to rise, potentially providing a new stream of revenue and jobs to local economies.
The Government’s decision to legalise the cultivation, processing and sell of marijuana for medicinal and economic purposes will greatly boost Zambia’s economy by increasing revenue, creating jobs and broadening the tax base. There will be a boost to agriculture, starting with the businesses and individuals who will be growing and harvesting the weed to those who will be processing and packaging the refined weed products. Additionally, those in the marketing and transport sector will largely benefit from the marijuana business.
The proceeds from marijuana business will massively contribute to the development and growth of other sectors of the economy such as Education, Health, Infrastructure and so on.
In terms of medical benefits, science has proven that marijuana can be used to treat a number of illnesses and symptoms ranging from depression, stress, post-trastress disorder symptoms among many others.
Studies on cancer cells suggest that cannabinoids may either slow down the growth of or kill some types of cancer. Research has shown that cannabis can cure Leprosy and many other medical conditions.
The bold step taken by the Government to allow the cultivation, processing and sell of marijuana for medicinal and commercial purposes only will go a long way in rising government revenue, creating jobs and uplifting the lives of many people. The onus is now on the experts in The Ministerial Technical Committee to put up correct measures to ensure that the cannabis business benefits Zambians.
The author is Cde Antonio Mwanza , PF Deputy Media Director
It amuses me to see how PF operates, if there was a description of parrots, PF fits that description to the latter, I remember when Benbar Changala started talking about medical Marijuana, everyone in PF was on the other side of his reasoning, PF even made it a campaign issue against Benbar, but now that they are about to have one source of illicit money blocked because everyone is talking against Mukula, they have realized the Mukula days are numbered hence they have to find another illicit trade for their pockets because mind you what drives PF is the ability to stoke pile money in their personal pockets and not national coffers, so look at them now, everyone has now become a preacher of Marijuana in PF and they are defending it with their lives, WHAT PARROTS. THEY ALL USE GROUP THINK…
I totally agree with you. What kind of people are these? Peter Sinkamba has been championing the use of cannabis for medicinal use for years and they called him or sorts of names. Now every dunderhead in PF is singing praises for legalization of cannabis. What a bunch of low life thieves
IF ONE FARTS, THEY ALL FART IN UNISON BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE IS TO SUPPORT ALL MANNER OF CRAP AS LONG AS IT IS CHAMPINED BY ONE OF THEM AND there IS A PROSPECT OF PERSONAL CASH.
Yes, maybe you are right Antonio. But what is certain is that under PF is not the right time to implement such a sensitive and dangerous project, the chamba will be like a nuclear disaster for this country.
You may not know it Antonio you are too small, but others in your party are most probably seeing the project as a new source of wealth and campaign funds.
..through kickbacks…..kikiki
8 wasted years of PF government. Akulasanikwa (if we could tell the future,if only we knew, we could not have voted for these characters in 2011). Total, crystal clear, evident and undeniable failure
Unless we are being told lies, this project is doomed .Which country in the world can fail to grow this stuff if they want it for medicinal use . UCZ ,Pentecostal churches , SDA etc why are you quiet so about this ;do you want your members to start smoking it ?
Unless we are being told lies, this project is doomed .Which country in the world can fail to grow this stuff if they want it for medicinal use . UCZ the political arm o of government now ,Pentecostal churches , SDA etc why are you so quiet about this ;do you want your members to start smoking it ?
This little person is not ashamed of his plagiarized and shallow articles. Some plagiarized ‘copy and paste’ statements “As more states move to legalize……” is an inference which was drawn in apparent reference to USA alone. Hypothetically, the article fails to correlate the illegal pricing with perceived increased production of cannabis. little boy, those illegal prices are high because of limited supply of marijuana. what are your export markets? Don’t be excited marijuana will behave like any other non-food commodity on market. Nevertheless, Zambia can make significant gains by extractive processing to produce pure active components for defined local and export markets.
Marijuana can grow anywhere in the world. In UK it grows very well in green houses and even converted warehouses. in USA there are farms growing hemp and cannabis . All you need is water and warmth. Which country imports or exports marijuana? Is it even a commodity? Instead of growing the stuff and extracting the medicinal products for export, you want to export raw stuff! Wankers!