Licensing of medicinal cannabis: ZCLDN calls for alignment of laws in Zimbabwe

By Byron Adonis Mutingwende/Spikedmedia

The Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) is calling for the alignment of laws following the move by the government when on April 27, 2018, Zimbabwe became the second African country to legalise growing cannabis for medicinal and scientific purposes.

As such, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) recently invited licensed cannabis and hemp producers, manufacturers, importers, exporters, and retail pharmacists to apply for approval to sell the products.

Zimbabwe’s laws for possession of cannabis for personal use are very strict while cannabis use remains highly stigmatised.

“As such, we call upon the government of Zimbabwe to reform the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 (57) and the Dangerous Drugs Act Chapter 15 to enable the full implementation of the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan in offering harm reduction services for people who use and inject drugs.

“In the same spirit, ZCLDN calls upon the government to speed up the establishment of public rehabilitation centres, one per Province for the treatment of people who use drugs. The current private rehabilitation centres are beyond the reach of the majority,” said Mr. Wilson Box, the ZCLDN Projects Executive Director.