Zimbabwe: It Doesn't Bode Well - Cannabis Reform Is Pitting Small-Scale Farmers Against Agri-Business Bristol University academic Clemence Rusenga offers a deep dive into Zimbabwe’s cannabis sector. One of his conclusions is that Harare’s cannabis reform is aimed at attracting foreign investment rather than uplifting subsistence farmers and that this is going to create a deepening schism between agri-business and illicit growers. READ 24/05/03, 09:00 Sierra Leone: Voodoo Kush Addictions Spiralling; the Nation's Kids Are at Risk Substance abuse in West Africa is spiralling out of control, with hybrid drugs coming onto the market that are aimed soley at creating addiction. Cannabis is the base for fentynal-laced Voodoo Kush, which is creating a social health crisis. Here we take you to the streets of Freetown for how the new drug is affecting ordinary people. READ 24/04/19, 09:30 King Kong Secures Rwanda’s First Medical Cannabis Export License King Kong Organics (KKOG Rwanda) has become the first local company to secure a 5-year license to cultivate cannabis for medicinal purposes, extraction, and export various medicinal products in the central African country. READ 24/03/25, 12:00 Nigerian Arrests Confirm Durban is SA’s Main Drug Export Transit Point Nigerian authorities believe that an international drug smuggling syndicate based in South Africa is sending cannabis and cocaine to the West African country, including the powerful new strain, ‘Colorado’. READ 24/03/11, 07:00 ‘Ghanaian Loud’ Hits Nigeria A powerful new strain of Cannabis sativa know as 'Ghanaian Loud 'is on the West African market. Nigeria just bust a 14 ton consignment heading for Lagos. READ 24/02/08, 07:00 Malawi: No Clue How Much Revenue It's Earning Off Medical Cannabis Exports The central African country, which has legalized medical cannabis for export ,says it’s conducting its first ever production surveys which will give it data on the cannabis industry and what it’s legal earnings are. READ 24/02/01, 07:00 Nigeria’s War on Drugs Exposes Powerful New Cannabis Strains: “Colorado” and “Ghana Loud” Nigerian law enforcement officials have arrested a man they say was allegedly smuggling high-THC “Colorado” cannabis from the US in boxing kits and distributing the merch through Lagos State. READ 24/01/09, 11:00 Going Going Ghana: Lawmakers Embrace The Potential of Cannabis Lawmakers in Ghana’s Parliament voted last month to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, putting a 0,3% THC cap for growers. READ 24/01/05, 08:30 Chris Duvall: The Fascinating and Heartbreaking Neo-Colonial History of Cannabis in Africa Africans have valued cannabis for centuries and that in this history lie the seeds of future potential. READ 23/12/28, 06:00 Burna Boy says Nah to Dubai: Turns Down $5 M Gig Because He Won’t Be Able to Smoke Weed There Nigeria’s top musical artist, Burna Boy likes his cannabis. So much so that he’s not going to take up an invitation to perform in Dubai because of the Arab state’s prohibitionist stance. READ 23/11/03, 07:00 Cannabis Zimbabwe: Getting to Grips With Dysfunctionality Stakeholder meeting reveals that only 10 of 59 licensed cultivators are producing and selling and that red tape is to blame READ 23/11/01, 15:00 Kenya Doesn’t Buy Into Cannabis Legalization; Steps Up ‘War Against Drugs’ Senior Kenyan security official urges the country to resist the global push for the commercialization of cannabis, calls for cross-border ties in combating drug trafficking and a new approach to rehabilitation of ‘substance abusers.’ READ 23/09/28, 09:00 Explore More AFRICAN BREAKING NEWS Discover the latest African Cannabis Related News here. Leave a comment or share these Stories and get in on the LATEST CANNABIS AFRICAN NEWS. African News Sponsored by ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Hydrobiz Support Locals Advertise with us today Connecting People Connecting People Meet like minded people Connecting People Opportunity for all Opportunity for all Supporting Business Growth Invest in your business

CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Zimbabwe: It Doesn't Bode Well - Cannabis Reform Is Pitting Small-Scale Farmers Against Agri-Business Bristol University academic Clemence Rusenga offers a deep dive into Zimbabwe’s cannabis sector. One of his conclusions is that Harare’s cannabis reform is aimed at attracting foreign investment rather than uplifting subsistence farmers and that this is going to create a deepening schism between agri-business and illicit growers. Clemence Rusenga, University of Bristol 3 May 2024 at 09:00:00 Origins of legalisation Cannabis policy changes in Zimbabwe were driven by both private sector and governmental interests. In 2015, Dr Zorodzai Maroveke, a young dentist who founded the Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust (ZIHT) in 2017, started lobbying the government to allow for legal production of cannabis and its industrial applications. Her organisation credits the government’s warm response to its proposals partly on its strategy which focused on industrial rather than recreational uses. The coming into power of a new pro-business government in 2017 also accelerated the reforms (Interview 21, Cannabis Industry Insider 27/2/2023). As explained by the Minister of Agriculture, for the Zimbabwean government cannabis holds strategic economic value as an alternative crop that can complement the main crop, tobacco. This view was expressed also in interviews with contacts from the cannabis regulatory bodies (MCAZ and AMA) and the government institute (Kutsaga Research) mandated to conduct cannabis research and development in the country. The emergence of a legal cannabis market globally seems to have been a factor as well, with the Minister of Finance claiming to target a US$1 billion market share for the country in the long term. Cannabis policy reforms in Zimbabwe were not driven by the need to resolve the problem of illicit cannabis production, trading and use or a focus on rural livelihoods. Unlike in South Africa where cannabis activists used legal means to fight for their interests (Grooten Citation2023 ), cannabis policy in Zimbabwe was shaped by the converging interests of the business class and the government. The government wanted to encourage investment in the country from both local and foreign sources while the private sector wanted to harness the economic potential that cannabis provides in the emerging global market. The medicinal and industrial route (rather than recreational) represented a safer common ground for both sides, but one that did not represent the interests of illicit cultivators, traders and consumers. As will be shown later, this partial legalisation and the focus on export markets preserves illicit markets and ensures continuation of cannabis-linked livelihoods, at least for now. Cannabis licensing processes and beneficiaries Medicinal cannabis and hemp are regulated by MCAZ and AMA, respectively. While AMA handles the hemp applications directly, those for medicinal cannabis are facilitated through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), on behalf of MCAZ. ZIDA was established to promote and facilitate investment in Zimbabwe, handling both foreign and national investors (ZIDA Citation2022 ). An interviewed MCAZ official stated that the application is submitted to ZIDA which vets the files for security clearance before forwarding to MCAZ for issuance of a license which is then dispatched to the applicant through ZIDA. In the case of hemp, apart from license fees and the standard inspection fee of US$200 for all permit categories, additional requirements include security clearance, cultivation site maps, certificate of incorporation if a company and a valid tax clearance, among others (Statutory Instrument 218 2020). In line with the government’s ‘open for business’ mantra, an interviewed AMA official stressed that it takes only up to 72 hours to get a license, with renewal costing US$200. On the other hand, medicinal cannabis licensee fees range from US$5,000 (research) to US$50,000 (cannabis production) with an inspection fee of US$2,500 (Statutory Instrument 62 Citation2018 ). The ZIDA guidelines state that an application fee of US$11,250 is needed on submission of the application. Additional costs include an annual return fee of US$15,000, license renewal costs of US$20,000 and US$2,500 for cannabis production and research and development respectively (Statutory Instrument 62 Citation2018 ). Further requirements include proof of having land for the proposed business, a detailed security plan, proof of funds and a detailed business plan, among others. A closer look at the profiles of some of the license beneficiaries shows the predominance of agribusinesses and the domestic business class in the sector, with foreign investors coming from countries such as South Africa, Namibia, USA, Switzerland and the UK. The licensing conditions act as administrative barriers to entry especially for those without substantial resources. Commenting on the license fees, an interviewed former member of parliament for a rural constituency with a potential for involvement in cannabis production said ‘ … this is an exclusionary approach, and it is bad. Who is going to get that amount? People should be allowed to produce it just like they produce maize, and be registered for regulatory purposes’ . An elderly illicit cultivator concurred saying, ‘[T]his is why we will continue to cultivate cannabis in the forests because there is no one who will afford the US$200 to US$50,000 license fees’ (Interview 36, Illicit Producer 8/8/2022). In contrast, others viewed high license fees as justified because having fewer industry players enabled better monitoring and control for the government against illegal supply and drug abuse. An interviewed local political leader in Binga argued that the fees act as a screening mechanism that ensured that only those with adequate resources and those who are ‘serious’ about business will participate. An interviewed AMA official also raised this point saying, ‘license fees are now playing a security role, sort of screening farmers … the license is costing $50,000 which is not easy to acquire’ . Most community members (including illicit cultivators and traders) and representatives of civil society and academia that were interviewed viewed the license fees as prohibitive and beyond the reach of many. There was also a view that although small-scale farmers can struggle to enter the medical cannabis sector because it is capital intensive there was space for participation in the industrial hemp sector, including via out-grower programmes. This points to the possibility of having a socially differentiated agrarian cannabis sector, but one where most small-scale farmers grow industrial hemp with the medicinal sector almost exclusively for agribusinesses (including joint ventures). However, even the US$200 for an industrial hemp license is unaffordable for most citizens, including illicit cultivators. There seems also to be an evident contradiction between the government’s stated objective of helping tobacco farmers (the majority of whom are small-scale farmers) to adopt cannabis as a complementary lucrative cash crop and cannabis licensing which largely favours large corporations. The cannabis licensing fees are far higher than the US$10 tobacco farmers currently pay to register with the government. In addition, legalisation is not aimed at addressing illicit cannabis production, nor is there a programme to bring illicit cultivators into legal markets. Thus, the cannabis licensing process excludes the majority of small-scale cultivators currently producing tobacco and illicit cannabis. Nonetheless, the prolonged ban on recreational cannabis and the reforms’ focus on medicinal and industrial cannabis for export markets unintentionally preserves the domestic illicit cannabis market, allowing illicit players to continue their cannabis-linked livelihoods. This is contrary to experiences in Jamaica, the US, Canada, South Africa where legalisation for recreational purposes created direct competition between small-scale and licensed producers including agribusinesses. Hemp production dynamics The industrial hemp sector produces diverse products based on cannabis and is dominated by three varieties that farmers can produce – hemp grain, cannabidiol (CBD) flower and hemp fibre. Hemp grain is a seed which can be used to produce oil for body care products (soap, hand cream etc), food (salad oil and food supplements) and paints (oil paints, leather care etc). Hemp fibre can be used for production of paper and as bricks in the construction industry. On the other hand, CBD flower is used to produce CBD oil – a pharmaceutical ingredient. It was reported by the chief executive officer (CEO) of AMA in 2023 that Zimbabwean hemp farmers were currently only producing CBD flower for exports. This was confirmed by an interviewed cannabis industry insider, who said ‘mainly right now in Zimbabwe … we have the ones who are growing this for the CBD flower’ ). Hence, CBD flower dominates the early legal hemp sector in Zimbabwe. There are no domestic markets for hemp fibre and grain, and the farmers are not linked to international markets for those products. CBD flower farmers can either export their product or supply two local companies with CBD oil extraction facilities: Ivory Medical (Pvt) Ltd and Wild Leaf Farms (Pvt) Ltd. An interviewed hemp farmer whose company also extracts CBD oil for export said ‘[W]e have two companies, two processors of biomass who produces Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) … Ivory Medical and Wild Leaf Farms’. As an API, CBD oil should be extracted from cannabis produced under strict conditions that meet market standards including health and safety. The farmer should secure cultivation to prevent leakage to the community, ensure traceability and implement rigorous testing (for the soil, seeds, crop and oil) to make sure the cannabinoids are free of contaminants. The cost implications associated with this production regime has prevented many farmers from producing, as they lack the required financial, technical and human resources needed to establish production. Production cost projections per hectare vary depending on whether the hemp is grown outdoors or in the greenhouses and the type of hemp. An interviewed AMA official estimated the production cost at US$10,000 per hectare, with US$5,000 needed for the imported seeds and another US$5,000 for maintenance costs. However, it was indicated that hemp grain has lower costs ranging from US$2,000 to US$3,000 per hectare. Almost all inputs are imported as there are no domestic companies to produce them, with seed cost ranging from US$0.20 to US$0.33 per seed. A contact from a joint venture project in Mazoe, Mashonaland Central Province, which produces using greenhouses put the cost at US$15,000 per 2,500 square meters (0.25 hectares). With 6 hectares under production, it means US$360,000 was needed for greenhouses. The project has a CBD oil extraction facility on site as well, meaning the business cost is even higher. While foreign investors provide funds that enable such production, many farmers are struggling to produce under the prevailing regulatory, political and economic conditions. Eight hemp farmers produced 40,225 kilograms (kg) of CBD flower utilising 24.3 hectares in the 2021/2022 season. This means that 71 percent of the 26 registered cultivators in that season did not produce anything. Although 11 out of 31 registered farmers produced hemp for CBD flower in the 2022/23 season, there was a 22 percent decrease in hectarage used while output decreased to 11.6 tons (AMA Citation2024 ). This confirms that licensed farmers are struggling to produce due to various factors including high costs and regulatory and market challenges. While 8 tons of CBD flower were exported to Switzerland by two growers in the 2021/22 season, only 485 kg were exported in the 2022/23 season by three growers, with an additional 1 ton supplied to the local market by another grower. Export prices ranged from US$10 to US$50 per kg while the domestic market paid US$20 per kg. Two joint venture agribusinesses each currently produce over 1 ton of CBD oil per month for exports. One of them sells its oil through middlemen (with EU GMP certification) in Lesotho and South Africa. Oil prices ranged from US$250 to US$4,000 per kilogram depending on concentration. However, an interviewed licensed farmer made it clear that farmers are at the mercy of middlemen who offer lower prices, while they in turn fetch more when they supply EU markets. The difficulties that licensed cannabis farmers face make the sector less attractive to most of the current tobacco farmers for whom cannabis is partly meant to be an alternative cash crop. The farmers must also navigate the effects of political instability, volatile currency markets and banks’ scepticism regarding funding cannabis production. A farmer in a joint venture project near Harare said banks even refuse to open bank accounts for cannabis farmers because the terms ‘dangerous drugs and narcotics’ which appear on the licenses scare them off. While the production struggles of most farmers expose the sector to capture by agribusiness which possess better resources, political and economic instability make it harder even for agribusinesses to operate. Some, like Eco-Equity Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (UK investors), have already closed while others such as Medigrow (South Africa investors) were yet to start production in the first half of 2023. The CBD flower sector’s focus on exports and the low THC content means that legal hemp farmers do not currently present competition to illicit cultivators and traders who subsist on supplying illicit cannabis for recreational purposes. While the reforms were aimed at attracting local and foreign investment into the country, achieving that goal is not guaranteed given the struggles licensed farmers experience in Zimbabwe. Medicinal cannabis production In contrast to hemp, cultivating medicinal cannabis is a very costly undertaking that accommodates only those with a lot of resources. The entry barriers for small-scale farmers and illicit cultivators begin with high license fees as noted earlier . However, an interviewed MCAZ official maintained that ‘[T]he issuance of production licenses does not discriminate. Equal opportunity is granted to all interested parties’. Others, however, acknowledge the exclusive nature of medicinal cannabis which they view as inevitable as it is a typical agro-pharmaceutical industry. Farmers can grow high-THC cannabis or medical grade cannabis for CBD oil and CBD powder for the pharmaceutical industry. Examples include Luxacan (Pvt) Ltd in Concession, Mashonaland Central Province, and Swiss Bioceuticals (Pvt) Ltd in Mt Hampden, Mashonaland West Province. Some grow cannabis trees for cuttings sold to other farmers as is the case on a farm near Harare. The produce is targeted at external markets, except for those producing tree cuttings. An MCAZ official stated that ‘[A]t the moment only six license holders have commenced production. The majority of the license holders are still in the process of constructing their cannabis cultivation sites’. Most inputs for the medicinal cannabis sector are imported. One farmer imported his seeds from Oregon, USA while another imported Fenocan feminised cannabis seeds from Switzerland. The general production requirements for medicinal cannabis are contained in Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018. Among other things, farmers are required to install perimeter fencing, CCTV cameras to monitor the whole site as well as producing cannabis in greenhouses. Medicinal cannabis must meet the ‘organically grown’ criteria. Commenting on greenhouses, an AMA official said: "The medicinal cannabis is mostly used for medicines. That is why it is grown in a controlled environment under greenhouses for it to be safer for human consumption". The greenhouses allow farmers to control temperatures, humidity, pests and contamination. Additional equipment includes sensor lighting, humidifiers and dehumidifiers and blowers – all critical in controlling the environment in the greenhouse. This equipment, alongside greenhouses and other specialised production inputs (like drip and fertigation systems) make medicinal cannabis production costly beyond many farmers’ affordability. Although cost estimates for producing one hectare varied, they ranged between US$250,000 and US$1 million inclusive of the infrastructure needed. The sector is clearly designed for investors – both local and foreign. However, the high costs and political and economic instability in the country combine to undermine agribusinesses’ capture of the sector. This nuance is missing in most literature on corporate capture which ignore local conditions such as those in Zimbabwe which affect agribusiness’ ability to establish itself in the medicinal cannabis sector. An interviewed MCAZ official estimated that by mid-2023 about 15 tons had been produced by medicinal cannabis farmers . He further stated that most of the cannabis that was produced was not yet for export but research purposes as farmers try to identify varieties that do well. However, during 2023 one farmer reported that he had started selling CBD powder to the UK market. He sold 50 kg for US$20,000 (US$400 per kg) and was in the process of supplying more CBD powder worth US$500,000 to the UK market. Access to export markets remains a challenge for the farmers. While lucrative, the medicinal cannabis business is an exclusive club for those with substantial resources – making it nearly impossible for illicit cultivators and small-scale farmers to establish themselves as serious players in the sector. Cannabis and access to land Licensed farmers have different backgrounds and utilise various means to access land. Some are commercial farmers who use part of their land for cannabis. An example is Luxacan (Pvt) Ltd in Concession, Mashonaland Central, which is situated on farmland owned by an agribusiness that grows roses for the international export market ). Others are new to farming, including those from the Zimbabwean diaspora. Expressing his observations about new cannabis farmers in Mashonaland Central Province, one interviewed licensed farmer said they are ‘buying small plots … six hectares, you know, small pieces of land. And they are getting into production, cannabis, industrial hemp’. Local politicians are also involved while some projects are wholly owned and operated by foreign investors such as Wild Leaf Farms and Avagro (Pvt) Ltd. However, there are also joint ventures where local and foreign investors team up to establish cannabis projects. The terms of agreements vary from project to project, but foreign investors usually bring foreign capital and facilitate market access with the local investors providing land (either leased or owned) and operational management responsibilities. Agribusinesses utilise various means to access land including leasing from local farmers. Cannabis’ demand for productive land contributes to land use changes. However, some prefer so-called virgin land because it does not contain chemicals compared to land formerly used for commercial crop production. A hemp farmer in Bulawayo explained: "… most of the time it is better to have virgin land to open up … We can do soil test and that, but a lot of the old agricultural farms have used a lot of different chemicals … some of those chemicals used can last for seven years in the ground. This points to possibilities of land dispossession for the poor where the government deems proposed cannabis projects to be of strategic importance as was the case in 2021 when the Chilonga community (in Chiredzi) was evicted from its ancestral land to pave way for a lucerne grass project for dairy production by Dendairy, a private producer of milk products. Because the number of licensed producers is still quite small, the impact on land dynamics is minimal at this stage. As of January 2024, cannabis projects were not yet utilising extensive or dispossessed land, with various licensed farmers and industry experts indicating that properties range from 1 to 6 hectares in size. This is partly due to the limited scale of production as the industry is still setting up while many farmers also struggle with production. This may change in the future when the industry grows. Licensed projects are concentrated in the three Mashonaland provinces (East, West and Central) and Harare (e.g. 61 percent of medicinal cannabis projects), suggesting that future impact on land dynamics will be more in the northern parts of the country than elsewhere. Cannabis and labour Although cannabis production is capital-intensive it also employs more labour needed to tend the crop during its life cycle. An interviewed hemp farmer said ‘ … we have about 70 people … It is very labour intensive’. Two other hemp farmers employed 45 and over 100 employees respectively. During a site visit in August 2023, the researchers observed around 30 workers employed on a medicinal cannabis farm near Harare. Although most of the labour is semi-skilled, those projects with processing plants also hired specialised, skilled workers to operate the processing machines and testing laboratories. Women were most preferred to work in the fields. One farmer said: "… we prefer women … They are more delicate in their operations especially when harvesting … Ladies tend to be a bit patient when doing those operations which are delicate. Ladies are not so experimenting like men. Ladies do not like taking risks. We have had 12 cases of theft, and you will find out that it is men. This was confirmed by another interviewed farmer who said ‘ … the women are definitely better on the plants … ladies are much better, you know, more adapted and better for that job’ . The researchers observed similar trends at a medicinal cannabis project during a visit in 2023. This finding is contrary to that of Shonhe, Scoones, and Murimbarimba where men dominated the permanent agricultural workforce after the fast-track land reform programme (FTLRP) of the 2000s. Workers wore personal protective equipment (PPE) and worked in clean environments to ensure compliance with export markets’ safety standards. The above shows that cannabis can contribute to rural job creation – making an agrarian impact to the economy. However, the impact is less likely to mirror that of tobacco and other crops where the participation of small-scale farmers enables them to combine both household and hired labour leading to broader agrarian effects. Business as usual for illicit markets Despite the emergence of the legal cannabis sector, illicit cannabis is still far larger in terms of estimated output and its significance to people's livelihoods. Illicit markets are supplied from both locally grown and imported cannabis. Areas such as Mutoko (north-east) and Binga (north-west) are known for illicit cannabis cultivation by small-scale growers. However, trade and consumption is nationwide with local supplies complemented with imports from Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique. Most interviewed illicit cultivators, traders, consumers and some community members supported the legalisation of cannabis. They cited cannabis’ contributions as including financial, enabling someone to work hard, facilitating productive thinking as well as physical and spiritual healing. The community members who opposed cannabis’ legalisation argued that the unemployed, especially the youth, tend to smoke more or are vulnerable to using drugs. They also thought that legalisation was going to increase supplies of cannabis into their communities. However, those who supported legalisation had limited knowledge on what has been legalised, with many thinking the reforms included recreational cannabis as well. On learning that recreational cannabis was still illegal, an illicit cultivator in Binga said ‘the current policy is not good. If cannabis is to be grown let it be open to everyone as is the case with other crops’. Many interviewees in Binga and Chiredzi expressed interest in growing cannabis legally due to its premium prices compared to crops like maize. However, they preferred this to be done through cooperatives. The rationale was that cooperatives will allow them to pull their resources together, bargain better when negotiating prices while also offering better control against drug leakages into their communities. While not opposed to cannabis smoking, they did not support its consumption by young people especially the youth. A traditional leader in Binga said: "Producing individually will be difficult. They should put people into groups (cooperatives) monitored by the government. It will lift people economically. An illicit cultivator concurred saying: "I am very much interested in getting a permit to cultivate cannabis … They should form cooperatives that are monitored. If one grows individually, they can sell illegally to the youth to generate income. But with cooperatives both the nation and the farmers will benefit’. Thus, cooperatives were seen as a model that promotes participation of small-scale and illicit producers into legal markets, as is the case in Morrocco. Some community members who worried about drug problems preferred that legal production be done by corporate businesses only, with communities providing labour. Such a model, however, would reproduce the unequal (colonial) agrarian relations which were disrupted by the FTLRP in favour of inclusion of Africans as key agrarian players. In Binga illicit cultivation was done by men on small plots in forests and alongside rivers, but far from residential areas. During the growing season some grew cannabis in the middle of fields surrounded by other crops to camouflage it. No one is expected to walk into the middle of someone’s field during the planting seasons. Most growers hid their business from family members while one indicated that his wife knew about the business but had no idea where the plot was located ). The secrecy around the plots was a safeguard against being reported to police as well as against thefts by community members. Only growers and those they trusted among growers could access the fields. The shortage of labour (no hired labour was used) was the reason behind the limited scale of production. Harvests ranged from one 20 L bucket to three buckets, with the cannabis processed and stored in the forests to avoid detection by police. One farmer, for instance, said his son was arrested by the police in mid-2023 because they found buckets of cannabis at his home. Thus, the poor are still arrested for a plant that is now benefiting the rich – demonstrating the discriminatory impacts of the reforms on various groups. Cannabis was sold for cash, exchanged for livestock such as chicken or used as currency to pay for hired labour, especially the youth. When sold, the growers charged US$3 to US$4 for a teacup. Twists, which are small joints of cannabis rolled in hard paper common in Chiredzi and Harare, were not preferred because they are labour intensive and create complexities that can attract the police. The farmers sold only to local people they knew and trusted. Labour was also hired to do tasks such as ploughing the family fields where licit crops are grown in exchange for cannabis. Most of those hired were youth. Cannabis had positive impacts for illicit cultivators’ households in Binga. One farmer, for instance, used income from cannabis to pay school fees for his three children. Further, he argued, ‘[W]hen I am not producing cannabis I end up selling household assets such as chicken to generate income’. A 63-year-old farmer, who started cultivating in 2000, said he managed to build a brick house, put in some lighting and drilled a borehole at home using proceeds from cannabis. He also established an almost 1-hectare plot of sugarcane which he sells to those who purchase for business purposes. The labour for that plot is also paid using cannabis. He plans to buy a 5,000 L water tank to use with his borehole for irrigation purposes. The above shows that illicit cannabis markets are supporting some households which ordinarily would have struggled to survive Zimbabwe’s tough economic conditions. The benefits are not limited to those who grow it. In Chiredzi and Harare some youth depended on cannabis selling for their livelihood. For instance, a young man in Chiredzi with a physical disability that prevented him from doing manual jobs used income from cannabis trade to build a one-room house. In mid-2022 he hired someone to mould cement bricks for the extension of his house to add more rooms. This not only shows the critical role illicit cannabis plays in the poor’s lives, but also highlights the perversity of criminalising them for an activity they have historically depended on, while at the same time opportunities are created for the rich to benefit from the same plant in a newly created legal sector. To prevent negative impacts on livelihoods, a widening of the legalisation process to cover domestic markets should be based on extensive consultations with illicit small-scale producers to ensure participation and safeguarding of their interests. Conclusion The article has critically examined Zimbabwe’s cannabis reforms which allow for legal production for medicinal and scientific purposes while continuing to outlaw all other uses. It highlighted the interconnections between cannabis, capitalist development and agrarian change and continuity. The article has demonstrated that cannabis legalisation has little to do with finding new livelihoods for small-scale farmers, especially illicit cannabis producers. Rather, it is driven more by the government’s desire to attract investment in the country. Although the policy rhetoric envisions small-scale licit farmers and agribusinesses operating alongside each other, in practice the sector is set up in a way that can only accommodate those with substantial resources with most small-scale farmers sidelined. While this presents the risk of agribusiness’ capture of the sector as seen elsewhere, a combination of high production costs, regulatory and market access challenges and political and economic crises, have undermined licensed farmers’ production, making it harder even for agribusiness to establish itself. Thus, the Zimbabwean case shows that legalisation processes do not always follow a set direction and need to be understood in their local context. The article also highlighted how continued prohibition of recreational cannabis alongside the formal sector’s focus on export markets have helped to preserve illicit cannabis markets for those currently producing and trading illegally. In the prevailing agrarian and economic crises faced by Zimbabwean rural farmers and youth (both urban and rural), illicit cannabis has allowed some to generate income, accumulate wealth as well as accessing resources they use to invest in legal production processes. In addition, while prohibition of recreational cannabis affects and stigmatises the poor, it also shields illicit players from competition from licensed farmers who possess better resources, contrary to the experiences in South Africa. Despite these positives, illicit cannabis economies are by no means peasant idylls. Zimbabwe’s legal reforms have some unintended consequences with serious agrarian implications. For some legal agricultural producers who acquired licenses for cannabis, the challenges with setting up cannabis projects has forced them to continue with production of other conventional cash crops. There is also continuity in the illicit cannabis markets, with cultivators and traders generating income under almost unchanged conditions despite the administrative and entry barriers into legal markets. For these two groups, it is business as usual. Lastly, although some agribusinesses and those in joint ventures have managed to establish production, their activities are affected by high business costs, political instability as well as economic volatility that have prevailed in Zimbabwe since the early 2000s. About the Author: Clemence Rusenga Clemence Rusenga is with the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. He is a researcher on the Cannabis Africana: Drugs and Development in Africa project. His work focuses on the nexus between drugs and development, as well as the implications of the emerging legal cannabis markets on agrarian change in Africa. 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Previous Next Zimbabwe: It Doesn't Bode Well - Cannabis Reform Is Pitting Small-Scale Farmers Against Agri-Business Home African News South African News International News All News Marketplace Business News More Clemence Rusenga, University of Bristol 3 May 2024 at 09:00:00 Bristol University academic Clemence Rusenga offers a deep dive into Zimbabwe’s cannabis sector. One of his conclusions is that Harare’s cannabis reform is aimed at attracting foreign investment rather than uplifting subsistence farmers and that this is going to create a deepening schism between agri-business and illicit growers. Origins of legalisation Cannabis policy changes in Zimbabwe were driven by both private sector and governmental interests. In 2015, Dr Zorodzai Maroveke, a young dentist who founded the Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust (ZIHT) in 2017, started lobbying the government to allow for legal production of cannabis and its industrial applications. Her organisation credits the government’s warm response to its proposals partly on its strategy which focused on industrial rather than recreational uses. The coming into power of a new pro-business government in 2017 also accelerated the reforms (Interview 21, Cannabis Industry Insider 27/2/2023). As explained by the Minister of Agriculture, for the Zimbabwean government cannabis holds strategic economic value as an alternative crop that can complement the main crop, tobacco. This view was expressed also in interviews with contacts from the cannabis regulatory bodies (MCAZ and AMA) and the government institute (Kutsaga Research) mandated to conduct cannabis research and development in the country. The emergence of a legal cannabis market globally seems to have been a factor as well, with the Minister of Finance claiming to target a US$1 billion market share for the country in the long term. Cannabis policy reforms in Zimbabwe were not driven by the need to resolve the problem of illicit cannabis production, trading and use or a focus on rural livelihoods. Unlike in South Africa where cannabis activists used legal means to fight for their interests (Grooten Citation2023 ), cannabis policy in Zimbabwe was shaped by the converging interests of the business class and the government. The government wanted to encourage investment in the country from both local and foreign sources while the private sector wanted to harness the economic potential that cannabis provides in the emerging global market. The medicinal and industrial route (rather than recreational) represented a safer common ground for both sides, but one that did not represent the interests of illicit cultivators, traders and consumers. As will be shown later, this partial legalisation and the focus on export markets preserves illicit markets and ensures continuation of cannabis-linked livelihoods, at least for now. Cannabis licensing processes and beneficiaries Medicinal cannabis and hemp are regulated by MCAZ and AMA, respectively. While AMA handles the hemp applications directly, those for medicinal cannabis are facilitated through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), on behalf of MCAZ. ZIDA was established to promote and facilitate investment in Zimbabwe, handling both foreign and national investors (ZIDA Citation2022 ). An interviewed MCAZ official stated that the application is submitted to ZIDA which vets the files for security clearance before forwarding to MCAZ for issuance of a license which is then dispatched to the applicant through ZIDA. In the case of hemp, apart from license fees and the standard inspection fee of US$200 for all permit categories, additional requirements include security clearance, cultivation site maps, certificate of incorporation if a company and a valid tax clearance, among others (Statutory Instrument 218 2020). In line with the government’s ‘open for business’ mantra, an interviewed AMA official stressed that it takes only up to 72 hours to get a license, with renewal costing US$200. On the other hand, medicinal cannabis licensee fees range from US$5,000 (research) to US$50,000 (cannabis production) with an inspection fee of US$2,500 (Statutory Instrument 62 Citation2018 ). The ZIDA guidelines state that an application fee of US$11,250 is needed on submission of the application. Additional costs include an annual return fee of US$15,000, license renewal costs of US$20,000 and US$2,500 for cannabis production and research and development respectively (Statutory Instrument 62 Citation2018 ). Further requirements include proof of having land for the proposed business, a detailed security plan, proof of funds and a detailed business plan, among others. A closer look at the profiles of some of the license beneficiaries shows the predominance of agribusinesses and the domestic business class in the sector, with foreign investors coming from countries such as South Africa, Namibia, USA, Switzerland and the UK. The licensing conditions act as administrative barriers to entry especially for those without substantial resources. Commenting on the license fees, an interviewed former member of parliament for a rural constituency with a potential for involvement in cannabis production said ‘ … this is an exclusionary approach, and it is bad. Who is going to get that amount? People should be allowed to produce it just like they produce maize, and be registered for regulatory purposes’ . An elderly illicit cultivator concurred saying, ‘[T]his is why we will continue to cultivate cannabis in the forests because there is no one who will afford the US$200 to US$50,000 license fees’ (Interview 36, Illicit Producer 8/8/2022). In contrast, others viewed high license fees as justified because having fewer industry players enabled better monitoring and control for the government against illegal supply and drug abuse. An interviewed local political leader in Binga argued that the fees act as a screening mechanism that ensured that only those with adequate resources and those who are ‘serious’ about business will participate. An interviewed AMA official also raised this point saying, ‘license fees are now playing a security role, sort of screening farmers … the license is costing $50,000 which is not easy to acquire’ . Most community members (including illicit cultivators and traders) and representatives of civil society and academia that were interviewed viewed the license fees as prohibitive and beyond the reach of many. There was also a view that although small-scale farmers can struggle to enter the medical cannabis sector because it is capital intensive there was space for participation in the industrial hemp sector, including via out-grower programmes. This points to the possibility of having a socially differentiated agrarian cannabis sector, but one where most small-scale farmers grow industrial hemp with the medicinal sector almost exclusively for agribusinesses (including joint ventures). However, even the US$200 for an industrial hemp license is unaffordable for most citizens, including illicit cultivators. There seems also to be an evident contradiction between the government’s stated objective of helping tobacco farmers (the majority of whom are small-scale farmers) to adopt cannabis as a complementary lucrative cash crop and cannabis licensing which largely favours large corporations. The cannabis licensing fees are far higher than the US$10 tobacco farmers currently pay to register with the government. In addition, legalisation is not aimed at addressing illicit cannabis production, nor is there a programme to bring illicit cultivators into legal markets. Thus, the cannabis licensing process excludes the majority of small-scale cultivators currently producing tobacco and illicit cannabis. Nonetheless, the prolonged ban on recreational cannabis and the reforms’ focus on medicinal and industrial cannabis for export markets unintentionally preserves the domestic illicit cannabis market, allowing illicit players to continue their cannabis-linked livelihoods. This is contrary to experiences in Jamaica, the US, Canada, South Africa where legalisation for recreational purposes created direct competition between small-scale and licensed producers including agribusinesses. Hemp production dynamics The industrial hemp sector produces diverse products based on cannabis and is dominated by three varieties that farmers can produce – hemp grain, cannabidiol (CBD) flower and hemp fibre. Hemp grain is a seed which can be used to produce oil for body care products (soap, hand cream etc), food (salad oil and food supplements) and paints (oil paints, leather care etc). Hemp fibre can be used for production of paper and as bricks in the construction industry. On the other hand, CBD flower is used to produce CBD oil – a pharmaceutical ingredient. It was reported by the chief executive officer (CEO) of AMA in 2023 that Zimbabwean hemp farmers were currently only producing CBD flower for exports. This was confirmed by an interviewed cannabis industry insider, who said ‘mainly right now in Zimbabwe … we have the ones who are growing this for the CBD flower’ ). Hence, CBD flower dominates the early legal hemp sector in Zimbabwe. There are no domestic markets for hemp fibre and grain, and the farmers are not linked to international markets for those products. CBD flower farmers can either export their product or supply two local companies with CBD oil extraction facilities: Ivory Medical (Pvt) Ltd and Wild Leaf Farms (Pvt) Ltd. An interviewed hemp farmer whose company also extracts CBD oil for export said ‘[W]e have two companies, two processors of biomass who produces Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) … Ivory Medical and Wild Leaf Farms’. As an API, CBD oil should be extracted from cannabis produced under strict conditions that meet market standards including health and safety. The farmer should secure cultivation to prevent leakage to the community, ensure traceability and implement rigorous testing (for the soil, seeds, crop and oil) to make sure the cannabinoids are free of contaminants. The cost implications associated with this production regime has prevented many farmers from producing, as they lack the required financial, technical and human resources needed to establish production. Production cost projections per hectare vary depending on whether the hemp is grown outdoors or in the greenhouses and the type of hemp. An interviewed AMA official estimated the production cost at US$10,000 per hectare, with US$5,000 needed for the imported seeds and another US$5,000 for maintenance costs. However, it was indicated that hemp grain has lower costs ranging from US$2,000 to US$3,000 per hectare. Almost all inputs are imported as there are no domestic companies to produce them, with seed cost ranging from US$0.20 to US$0.33 per seed. A contact from a joint venture project in Mazoe, Mashonaland Central Province, which produces using greenhouses put the cost at US$15,000 per 2,500 square meters (0.25 hectares). With 6 hectares under production, it means US$360,000 was needed for greenhouses. The project has a CBD oil extraction facility on site as well, meaning the business cost is even higher. While foreign investors provide funds that enable such production, many farmers are struggling to produce under the prevailing regulatory, political and economic conditions. Eight hemp farmers produced 40,225 kilograms (kg) of CBD flower utilising 24.3 hectares in the 2021/2022 season. This means that 71 percent of the 26 registered cultivators in that season did not produce anything. Although 11 out of 31 registered farmers produced hemp for CBD flower in the 2022/23 season, there was a 22 percent decrease in hectarage used while output decreased to 11.6 tons (AMA Citation2024 ). This confirms that licensed farmers are struggling to produce due to various factors including high costs and regulatory and market challenges. While 8 tons of CBD flower were exported to Switzerland by two growers in the 2021/22 season, only 485 kg were exported in the 2022/23 season by three growers, with an additional 1 ton supplied to the local market by another grower. Export prices ranged from US$10 to US$50 per kg while the domestic market paid US$20 per kg. Two joint venture agribusinesses each currently produce over 1 ton of CBD oil per month for exports. One of them sells its oil through middlemen (with EU GMP certification) in Lesotho and South Africa. Oil prices ranged from US$250 to US$4,000 per kilogram depending on concentration. However, an interviewed licensed farmer made it clear that farmers are at the mercy of middlemen who offer lower prices, while they in turn fetch more when they supply EU markets. The difficulties that licensed cannabis farmers face make the sector less attractive to most of the current tobacco farmers for whom cannabis is partly meant to be an alternative cash crop. The farmers must also navigate the effects of political instability, volatile currency markets and banks’ scepticism regarding funding cannabis production. A farmer in a joint venture project near Harare said banks even refuse to open bank accounts for cannabis farmers because the terms ‘dangerous drugs and narcotics’ which appear on the licenses scare them off. While the production struggles of most farmers expose the sector to capture by agribusiness which possess better resources, political and economic instability make it harder even for agribusinesses to operate. Some, like Eco-Equity Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (UK investors), have already closed while others such as Medigrow (South Africa investors) were yet to start production in the first half of 2023. The CBD flower sector’s focus on exports and the low THC content means that legal hemp farmers do not currently present competition to illicit cultivators and traders who subsist on supplying illicit cannabis for recreational purposes. While the reforms were aimed at attracting local and foreign investment into the country, achieving that goal is not guaranteed given the struggles licensed farmers experience in Zimbabwe. Medicinal cannabis production In contrast to hemp, cultivating medicinal cannabis is a very costly undertaking that accommodates only those with a lot of resources. The entry barriers for small-scale farmers and illicit cultivators begin with high license fees as noted earlier . However, an interviewed MCAZ official maintained that ‘[T]he issuance of production licenses does not discriminate. Equal opportunity is granted to all interested parties’. Others, however, acknowledge the exclusive nature of medicinal cannabis which they view as inevitable as it is a typical agro-pharmaceutical industry. Farmers can grow high-THC cannabis or medical grade cannabis for CBD oil and CBD powder for the pharmaceutical industry. Examples include Luxacan (Pvt) Ltd in Concession, Mashonaland Central Province, and Swiss Bioceuticals (Pvt) Ltd in Mt Hampden, Mashonaland West Province. Some grow cannabis trees for cuttings sold to other farmers as is the case on a farm near Harare. The produce is targeted at external markets, except for those producing tree cuttings. An MCAZ official stated that ‘[A]t the moment only six license holders have commenced production. The majority of the license holders are still in the process of constructing their cannabis cultivation sites’. Most inputs for the medicinal cannabis sector are imported. One farmer imported his seeds from Oregon, USA while another imported Fenocan feminised cannabis seeds from Switzerland. The general production requirements for medicinal cannabis are contained in Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018. Among other things, farmers are required to install perimeter fencing, CCTV cameras to monitor the whole site as well as producing cannabis in greenhouses. Medicinal cannabis must meet the ‘organically grown’ criteria. Commenting on greenhouses, an AMA official said: "The medicinal cannabis is mostly used for medicines. That is why it is grown in a controlled environment under greenhouses for it to be safer for human consumption". The greenhouses allow farmers to control temperatures, humidity, pests and contamination. Additional equipment includes sensor lighting, humidifiers and dehumidifiers and blowers – all critical in controlling the environment in the greenhouse. This equipment, alongside greenhouses and other specialised production inputs (like drip and fertigation systems) make medicinal cannabis production costly beyond many farmers’ affordability. Although cost estimates for producing one hectare varied, they ranged between US$250,000 and US$1 million inclusive of the infrastructure needed. The sector is clearly designed for investors – both local and foreign. However, the high costs and political and economic instability in the country combine to undermine agribusinesses’ capture of the sector. This nuance is missing in most literature on corporate capture which ignore local conditions such as those in Zimbabwe which affect agribusiness’ ability to establish itself in the medicinal cannabis sector. An interviewed MCAZ official estimated that by mid-2023 about 15 tons had been produced by medicinal cannabis farmers . He further stated that most of the cannabis that was produced was not yet for export but research purposes as farmers try to identify varieties that do well. However, during 2023 one farmer reported that he had started selling CBD powder to the UK market. He sold 50 kg for US$20,000 (US$400 per kg) and was in the process of supplying more CBD powder worth US$500,000 to the UK market. Access to export markets remains a challenge for the farmers. While lucrative, the medicinal cannabis business is an exclusive club for those with substantial resources – making it nearly impossible for illicit cultivators and small-scale farmers to establish themselves as serious players in the sector. Cannabis and access to land Licensed farmers have different backgrounds and utilise various means to access land. Some are commercial farmers who use part of their land for cannabis. An example is Luxacan (Pvt) Ltd in Concession, Mashonaland Central, which is situated on farmland owned by an agribusiness that grows roses for the international export market ). Others are new to farming, including those from the Zimbabwean diaspora. Expressing his observations about new cannabis farmers in Mashonaland Central Province, one interviewed licensed farmer said they are ‘buying small plots … six hectares, you know, small pieces of land. And they are getting into production, cannabis, industrial hemp’. Local politicians are also involved while some projects are wholly owned and operated by foreign investors such as Wild Leaf Farms and Avagro (Pvt) Ltd. However, there are also joint ventures where local and foreign investors team up to establish cannabis projects. The terms of agreements vary from project to project, but foreign investors usually bring foreign capital and facilitate market access with the local investors providing land (either leased or owned) and operational management responsibilities. Agribusinesses utilise various means to access land including leasing from local farmers. Cannabis’ demand for productive land contributes to land use changes. However, some prefer so-called virgin land because it does not contain chemicals compared to land formerly used for commercial crop production. A hemp farmer in Bulawayo explained: "… most of the time it is better to have virgin land to open up … We can do soil test and that, but a lot of the old agricultural farms have used a lot of different chemicals … some of those chemicals used can last for seven years in the ground. This points to possibilities of land dispossession for the poor where the government deems proposed cannabis projects to be of strategic importance as was the case in 2021 when the Chilonga community (in Chiredzi) was evicted from its ancestral land to pave way for a lucerne grass project for dairy production by Dendairy, a private producer of milk products. Because the number of licensed producers is still quite small, the impact on land dynamics is minimal at this stage. As of January 2024, cannabis projects were not yet utilising extensive or dispossessed land, with various licensed farmers and industry experts indicating that properties range from 1 to 6 hectares in size. This is partly due to the limited scale of production as the industry is still setting up while many farmers also struggle with production. This may change in the future when the industry grows. Licensed projects are concentrated in the three Mashonaland provinces (East, West and Central) and Harare (e.g. 61 percent of medicinal cannabis projects), suggesting that future impact on land dynamics will be more in the northern parts of the country than elsewhere. Cannabis and labour Although cannabis production is capital-intensive it also employs more labour needed to tend the crop during its life cycle. An interviewed hemp farmer said ‘ … we have about 70 people … It is very labour intensive’. Two other hemp farmers employed 45 and over 100 employees respectively. During a site visit in August 2023, the researchers observed around 30 workers employed on a medicinal cannabis farm near Harare. Although most of the labour is semi-skilled, those projects with processing plants also hired specialised, skilled workers to operate the processing machines and testing laboratories. Women were most preferred to work in the fields. One farmer said: "… we prefer women … They are more delicate in their operations especially when harvesting … Ladies tend to be a bit patient when doing those operations which are delicate. Ladies are not so experimenting like men. Ladies do not like taking risks. We have had 12 cases of theft, and you will find out that it is men. This was confirmed by another interviewed farmer who said ‘ … the women are definitely better on the plants … ladies are much better, you know, more adapted and better for that job’ . The researchers observed similar trends at a medicinal cannabis project during a visit in 2023. This finding is contrary to that of Shonhe, Scoones, and Murimbarimba where men dominated the permanent agricultural workforce after the fast-track land reform programme (FTLRP) of the 2000s. Workers wore personal protective equipment (PPE) and worked in clean environments to ensure compliance with export markets’ safety standards. The above shows that cannabis can contribute to rural job creation – making an agrarian impact to the economy. However, the impact is less likely to mirror that of tobacco and other crops where the participation of small-scale farmers enables them to combine both household and hired labour leading to broader agrarian effects. Business as usual for illicit markets Despite the emergence of the legal cannabis sector, illicit cannabis is still far larger in terms of estimated output and its significance to people's livelihoods. Illicit markets are supplied from both locally grown and imported cannabis. Areas such as Mutoko (north-east) and Binga (north-west) are known for illicit cannabis cultivation by small-scale growers. However, trade and consumption is nationwide with local supplies complemented with imports from Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique. Most interviewed illicit cultivators, traders, consumers and some community members supported the legalisation of cannabis. They cited cannabis’ contributions as including financial, enabling someone to work hard, facilitating productive thinking as well as physical and spiritual healing. The community members who opposed cannabis’ legalisation argued that the unemployed, especially the youth, tend to smoke more or are vulnerable to using drugs. They also thought that legalisation was going to increase supplies of cannabis into their communities. However, those who supported legalisation had limited knowledge on what has been legalised, with many thinking the reforms included recreational cannabis as well. On learning that recreational cannabis was still illegal, an illicit cultivator in Binga said ‘the current policy is not good. If cannabis is to be grown let it be open to everyone as is the case with other crops’. Many interviewees in Binga and Chiredzi expressed interest in growing cannabis legally due to its premium prices compared to crops like maize. However, they preferred this to be done through cooperatives. The rationale was that cooperatives will allow them to pull their resources together, bargain better when negotiating prices while also offering better control against drug leakages into their communities. While not opposed to cannabis smoking, they did not support its consumption by young people especially the youth. A traditional leader in Binga said: "Producing individually will be difficult. They should put people into groups (cooperatives) monitored by the government. It will lift people economically. An illicit cultivator concurred saying: "I am very much interested in getting a permit to cultivate cannabis … They should form cooperatives that are monitored. If one grows individually, they can sell illegally to the youth to generate income. But with cooperatives both the nation and the farmers will benefit’. Thus, cooperatives were seen as a model that promotes participation of small-scale and illicit producers into legal markets, as is the case in Morrocco. Some community members who worried about drug problems preferred that legal production be done by corporate businesses only, with communities providing labour. Such a model, however, would reproduce the unequal (colonial) agrarian relations which were disrupted by the FTLRP in favour of inclusion of Africans as key agrarian players. In Binga illicit cultivation was done by men on small plots in forests and alongside rivers, but far from residential areas. During the growing season some grew cannabis in the middle of fields surrounded by other crops to camouflage it. No one is expected to walk into the middle of someone’s field during the planting seasons. Most growers hid their business from family members while one indicated that his wife knew about the business but had no idea where the plot was located ). The secrecy around the plots was a safeguard against being reported to police as well as against thefts by community members. Only growers and those they trusted among growers could access the fields. The shortage of labour (no hired labour was used) was the reason behind the limited scale of production. Harvests ranged from one 20 L bucket to three buckets, with the cannabis processed and stored in the forests to avoid detection by police. One farmer, for instance, said his son was arrested by the police in mid-2023 because they found buckets of cannabis at his home. Thus, the poor are still arrested for a plant that is now benefiting the rich – demonstrating the discriminatory impacts of the reforms on various groups. Cannabis was sold for cash, exchanged for livestock such as chicken or used as currency to pay for hired labour, especially the youth. When sold, the growers charged US$3 to US$4 for a teacup. Twists, which are small joints of cannabis rolled in hard paper common in Chiredzi and Harare, were not preferred because they are labour intensive and create complexities that can attract the police. The farmers sold only to local people they knew and trusted. Labour was also hired to do tasks such as ploughing the family fields where licit crops are grown in exchange for cannabis. Most of those hired were youth. Cannabis had positive impacts for illicit cultivators’ households in Binga. One farmer, for instance, used income from cannabis to pay school fees for his three children. Further, he argued, ‘[W]hen I am not producing cannabis I end up selling household assets such as chicken to generate income’. A 63-year-old farmer, who started cultivating in 2000, said he managed to build a brick house, put in some lighting and drilled a borehole at home using proceeds from cannabis. He also established an almost 1-hectare plot of sugarcane which he sells to those who purchase for business purposes. The labour for that plot is also paid using cannabis. He plans to buy a 5,000 L water tank to use with his borehole for irrigation purposes. The above shows that illicit cannabis markets are supporting some households which ordinarily would have struggled to survive Zimbabwe’s tough economic conditions. The benefits are not limited to those who grow it. In Chiredzi and Harare some youth depended on cannabis selling for their livelihood. For instance, a young man in Chiredzi with a physical disability that prevented him from doing manual jobs used income from cannabis trade to build a one-room house. In mid-2022 he hired someone to mould cement bricks for the extension of his house to add more rooms. This not only shows the critical role illicit cannabis plays in the poor’s lives, but also highlights the perversity of criminalising them for an activity they have historically depended on, while at the same time opportunities are created for the rich to benefit from the same plant in a newly created legal sector. To prevent negative impacts on livelihoods, a widening of the legalisation process to cover domestic markets should be based on extensive consultations with illicit small-scale producers to ensure participation and safeguarding of their interests. Conclusion The article has critically examined Zimbabwe’s cannabis reforms which allow for legal production for medicinal and scientific purposes while continuing to outlaw all other uses. It highlighted the interconnections between cannabis, capitalist development and agrarian change and continuity. The article has demonstrated that cannabis legalisation has little to do with finding new livelihoods for small-scale farmers, especially illicit cannabis producers. Rather, it is driven more by the government’s desire to attract investment in the country. Although the policy rhetoric envisions small-scale licit farmers and agribusinesses operating alongside each other, in practice the sector is set up in a way that can only accommodate those with substantial resources with most small-scale farmers sidelined. While this presents the risk of agribusiness’ capture of the sector as seen elsewhere, a combination of high production costs, regulatory and market access challenges and political and economic crises, have undermined licensed farmers’ production, making it harder even for agribusiness to establish itself. Thus, the Zimbabwean case shows that legalisation processes do not always follow a set direction and need to be understood in their local context. The article also highlighted how continued prohibition of recreational cannabis alongside the formal sector’s focus on export markets have helped to preserve illicit cannabis markets for those currently producing and trading illegally. In the prevailing agrarian and economic crises faced by Zimbabwean rural farmers and youth (both urban and rural), illicit cannabis has allowed some to generate income, accumulate wealth as well as accessing resources they use to invest in legal production processes. In addition, while prohibition of recreational cannabis affects and stigmatises the poor, it also shields illicit players from competition from licensed farmers who possess better resources, contrary to the experiences in South Africa. Despite these positives, illicit cannabis economies are by no means peasant idylls. Zimbabwe’s legal reforms have some unintended consequences with serious agrarian implications. For some legal agricultural producers who acquired licenses for cannabis, the challenges with setting up cannabis projects has forced them to continue with production of other conventional cash crops. There is also continuity in the illicit cannabis markets, with cultivators and traders generating income under almost unchanged conditions despite the administrative and entry barriers into legal markets. For these two groups, it is business as usual. Lastly, although some agribusinesses and those in joint ventures have managed to establish production, their activities are affected by high business costs, political instability as well as economic volatility that have prevailed in Zimbabwe since the early 2000s. About the Author: Clemence Rusenga Clemence Rusenga is with the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. He is a researcher on the Cannabis Africana: Drugs and Development in Africa project. His work focuses on the nexus between drugs and development, as well as the implications of the emerging legal cannabis markets on agrarian change in Africa. He also conducts research on land and agrarian policies in Southern Africa, and their socio–economic effects on local communities. # ​ Sponsored by

Research Shows Some Rolling Papers Have High Levels of Heavy Metals A recent US study shows that many rolling papers and cones have elevated levels of potentially harmful compounds including heavy metals. AJ Herrington, High Times 24/05/03, 06:00 This report from High Times, published on 1 May 2020. Many brands of rolling papers designed for smoking weed contain elevated levels of potentially dangerous heavy metals, according to the results of a recent study. Rolling papers with dies or metallic tips pose a particular danger, the research determined, with some brands containing enough copper to be harmful to cannabis consumers who use them frequently. The study , which was conducted by researchers affiliated with Lake Superior State University’s School of Chemistry, examined the heavy metal content of dozens of commercially available rolling papers and preassembled paper cones. The authors note that many of the samples purchased for the research had been colored to make them more appealing to consumers than standard white rolling papers. The researchers analyzed the various samples for the presence of 26 different compounds that could cause negative health effects, most of which are heavy metals. The team of researchers used standard chemical analysis tests to measure the quantities of the compounds in the rolling papers, including tests that burned the products to determine the amount of heavy metals in the smoke that would enter the user’s lungs. Studied Detected Copper, Chromium and Vanadium in Some Rolling Papers The results of the analyses varied widely among the different products tested. Some samples had low levels of heavy metals, while others contained very high levels that could pose a danger to consumers who use them frequently. Elevated levels of copper were found in many colored samples, particularly blue and green cones, presumably from the pigments used to produce the bright hues. Other samples had elevated levels of the heavy metals chromium and vanadium. Some cones contained high amounts of antimony, which researchers said is likely because the element is used as a catalyst to produce the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in their tips. The research highlights a potential health risk that many consumers may not be aware of. Derek Wright, an environmental scientist at Lake Superior State University and co-author of the study, said that most people who use rolling papers assume they are safe. “Most consumers appear to think that someone in the government must regulate this,” Wright told Chemical and Engineering News. The researchers note that it would not be difficult for rolling paper and cone manufacturers to remove heavy metals during production. Ideally, many of the compounds can be eliminated from the manufacturing process entirely. Doing so, the authors of the study note, would reduce the risks faced by consumers. “None of these components are necessary,” Wright noted. Wright added that reducing the risks associated with cannabis use is particularly important for medical marijuana patients. “We have an at-risk population—so people that are already potentially sick with maybe serious diseases like cancer—using marijuana for pain management, and then potentially exposing themselves to things that could be conceivably hazardous,” said Wright. The researchers recommended that state lawmakers and other policymakers take note of the study’s findings and implement regulations to compel the manufacturers of rolling papers and cones to reduce the levels of heavy metals in their products. “Additional efforts by state regulatory agencies to reach a consensus on limits to toxic elements in cannabis and smoking papers are warranted based on our findings, as is additional research to determine exposures based on realistic use patterns,” the authors of the study wrote in their conclusion. Daniel Curtis, an analytical and atmospheric chemist at California State University, Fullerton, who was not involved in the research, said that the study is valuable because it is the first time that an examination of the heavy metals content of rolling papers specifically designed for cannabis use has been undertaken. “This is a really important study,” Curtis said, adding that he believes that additional research should be conducted to determine how much of the heavy metals in rolling papers is being incorporated into smoke as they are used. “We know cannabis use is increasing,” Curtis said. “If we can identify where potentially toxic chemicals are coming from, we can eventually use that information to make a safer product.” # Nyandeni Municipality Punts Cannabis as an Investment Opportunity to Ease Dreadful Poverty READ Thailand: Pro Cannabis Party Makes Better Than Expected Parliamentary Gains READ Portland, Oregon is the Most “Cannabis Friendly" City in the US; Birmingham, Alabama the Least READ Nigerian Journalists Fined for Conspiracy and Defamation After Investigation into Cannabis Use at Rice Factory READ UK Parliament Debates Medical Cannabis for the First Time READ INTERNATIONAL BREAKING NEWS PREVIOUS NEXT

CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Research Shows Some Rolling Papers Have High Levels of Heavy Metals A recent US study shows that many rolling papers and cones have elevated levels of potentially harmful compounds including heavy metals. AJ Herrington, High Times 3 May 2024 at 06:00:00 This report from High Times, published on 1 May 2020. Many brands of rolling papers designed for smoking weed contain elevated levels of potentially dangerous heavy metals, according to the results of a recent study. Rolling papers with dies or metallic tips pose a particular danger, the research determined, with some brands containing enough copper to be harmful to cannabis consumers who use them frequently. The study , which was conducted by researchers affiliated with Lake Superior State University’s School of Chemistry, examined the heavy metal content of dozens of commercially available rolling papers and preassembled paper cones. The authors note that many of the samples purchased for the research had been colored to make them more appealing to consumers than standard white rolling papers. The researchers analyzed the various samples for the presence of 26 different compounds that could cause negative health effects, most of which are heavy metals. The team of researchers used standard chemical analysis tests to measure the quantities of the compounds in the rolling papers, including tests that burned the products to determine the amount of heavy metals in the smoke that would enter the user’s lungs. Studied Detected Copper, Chromium and Vanadium in Some Rolling Papers The results of the analyses varied widely among the different products tested. Some samples had low levels of heavy metals, while others contained very high levels that could pose a danger to consumers who use them frequently. Elevated levels of copper were found in many colored samples, particularly blue and green cones, presumably from the pigments used to produce the bright hues. Other samples had elevated levels of the heavy metals chromium and vanadium. Some cones contained high amounts of antimony, which researchers said is likely because the element is used as a catalyst to produce the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in their tips. The research highlights a potential health risk that many consumers may not be aware of. Derek Wright, an environmental scientist at Lake Superior State University and co-author of the study, said that most people who use rolling papers assume they are safe. “Most consumers appear to think that someone in the government must regulate this,” Wright told Chemical and Engineering News. The researchers note that it would not be difficult for rolling paper and cone manufacturers to remove heavy metals during production. Ideally, many of the compounds can be eliminated from the manufacturing process entirely. Doing so, the authors of the study note, would reduce the risks faced by consumers. “None of these components are necessary,” Wright noted. Wright added that reducing the risks associated with cannabis use is particularly important for medical marijuana patients. “We have an at-risk population—so people that are already potentially sick with maybe serious diseases like cancer—using marijuana for pain management, and then potentially exposing themselves to things that could be conceivably hazardous,” said Wright. The researchers recommended that state lawmakers and other policymakers take note of the study’s findings and implement regulations to compel the manufacturers of rolling papers and cones to reduce the levels of heavy metals in their products. “Additional efforts by state regulatory agencies to reach a consensus on limits to toxic elements in cannabis and smoking papers are warranted based on our findings, as is additional research to determine exposures based on realistic use patterns,” the authors of the study wrote in their conclusion. Daniel Curtis, an analytical and atmospheric chemist at California State University, Fullerton, who was not involved in the research, said that the study is valuable because it is the first time that an examination of the heavy metals content of rolling papers specifically designed for cannabis use has been undertaken. “This is a really important study,” Curtis said, adding that he believes that additional research should be conducted to determine how much of the heavy metals in rolling papers is being incorporated into smoke as they are used. “We know cannabis use is increasing,” Curtis said. “If we can identify where potentially toxic chemicals are coming from, we can eventually use that information to make a safer product.” # South African Willem v d Merwe Among those Arrested for JuicyFields Scam: Also Faces Fraud Charges in Cape Town Over Missing Investor Cash About 200 South Africans were among the hundreds of thousands of investors who lost cash through JucyFields Read Finally, the First JuicyFields Arrests – “The Russian” is Tracked Down in the Dominican Republic As Europol Cracks the Whip JuicyFields' alleged ring-leader Sergei Berenzin was one of the first to be arrested on "Action Day' Read When Will They Ever Learn? Investors in 35 Countries Get Burned in Medical Cannabis Scam Modelled on Juicy Fields' Brazen Marketing Spanish police swoop on multi-million Euro scam after brazen gang copied JF's high profile methods to lure unsuspecting victims into parting with their cash for wildly unrealistic returns from medical cannabis Read NEXT PREVIOUS Cannabis in South Africa: The People’s Plant We are a civil society organisation with the interests of the existing Cannabis industry and the Human Rights of ALL citizens at heart. WE’RE BRINGING A NEW STANDARD We are more than just a cannabis retail company. We are about a lifestyle that promotes vitality, balance & good health. Resources & Equipment Explore cannabis growing equipment for growing weed at home. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re looking to enhance your outdoor or indoor weed grow setup – we have the perfect range of cannabis growing equipment to match your marijuana growing ambitions. ​ Find everything from LED grow lights, grow tents, fans, and hydroponic setups, to environmental equipment and controls, harvesting accessories, extraction equipment and plenty more. Design your ideal cannabis growing setup with high quality growing equipment available in South Africa. Explore cannabis growing equipment we’ve curated from reliable online suppliers in South Africa Explore More

CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Open Letter to those in our Cannabis Community Opposing the Signing of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill Activist organization Fields of Green for All has come out in support of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill which is sitting on the President’s desk, waiting to be signed into law. FGFA co-founder Myrtle Clarke says the Bill will see cannabis taken out of the Drugs Act and its imperfections can be tweaked in future legal challenges. Myrtle Clarke, co-founder Fields of Green For All 2 May 2024 at 08:00:00 This post first appeared on Fields of Green for All website on 25 April 2024 The South African government has a public relations problem. Everyone knows that. Should our government have put out a press release about the process that they intend to follow with regards to Cannabis, perhaps we wouldn’t be seeing these divisions in our community, which we certainly cannot afford. However, the bosses are not going to polish up their act anytime soon so it is left to the community to speculate, or strategise. Take your pick. Calling one another conspiratorial names also won’t help anyone. Fields of Green for ALL supports the signing into law of the imperfect (nobody ever suggested that it was perfect) Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill (CfPPB) because this means that Cannabis will be taken out of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act of 1992, with all sorts of happy knock-on consequences. Cannabis, now defined to exclude ‘hemp’, will no longer be broadly PROHIBITED. This significant step is a gain for us all, and will create an enabling environment in which we can move forward with regulations, plus actions that further advance our human rights. We would rather bring Court challenges to tweak the bits and pieces than to continue to fight for years for the big, broad stuff already being offered to us. This will serve to narrow the aim of any further strategic litigation. Threatening to hold our State President in contempt of court is not only nonsensical, but will keep our community in a static, combative and uninformed position. Such action, should it even be possible or viable, is not strategic. It is knee-jerk and hardly constructive. Nobody ever said that we want an unregulated free-for-all, even in private. If they did, they were rightly laughed off stage. That’s not how the social contract works. Regulations were always on the cards. That is what legal regulation is all about – striking a balance between legitimate state and civilian interests. Who knows how the regulations will unfold or what the process will be? Who knew that we would only get privacy in the March 2017 judgment in the Western Cape High Court, which informed the 2018 judgment of the Constitutional Court? Internationally, this was groundbreaking. At home, we’ve come to realise that it sucks … sort of. But please let’s move forward, instead of stagnating in our own pity. The answer to over-regulation isn’t zero regulation. It’s a constructive debate about the correct balances, which won’t be had if we don’t move forward from out of the starting blocks. How do we even have that debate until we see the proposed draft regulations to the CfPPB? Unless we are willing to wait years more to budge an inch, only those regulations can address and mitigate the most worrying aspects of the CfPPB – penalties and plant counting. Fields of Green for ALL has been working with our “Ten Crisis Points” for a few years now. The CfPPB does not tick any of these boxes, but we STILL support our President signing. We have solutions. Our whole Cannabis community has solutions. The CfPPB is not a one way street. Please don’t implore us to go backwards. Look how far we have come. Self interest cannot be allowed to beat the collective interest this time. This is about more than Oom rooking loads of homegrown boom on his couch. Take a look outside and see that there are others patiently waiting to benefit from the potential of cannabis. Ubuntu , matey! One of the most common fallacies in Western philosophy is “All or Nothing” and this “presents a false dilemma by suggesting that there are only two options – either all or nothing – when in fact there are many more options in the middle ground between those two extremes.” Continuing to be entirely uncompromising means that we will remain at 0%, when something that is a pass-worthy percentage is peaking just over the near horizon, with potential for even more improvement. The signing of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill by our President presents numerous opportunities, not failures – a fresh start after the dark days of being stuck in the regime of the Drugs Act. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, or lose ourselves in our own smoke. # South African Willem v d Merwe Among those Arrested for JuicyFields Scam: Also Faces Fraud Charges in Cape Town Over Missing Investor Cash About 200 South Africans were among the hundreds of thousands of investors who lost cash through JucyFields Read Finally, the First JuicyFields Arrests – “The Russian” is Tracked Down in the Dominican Republic As Europol Cracks the Whip JuicyFields' alleged ring-leader Sergei Berenzin was one of the first to be arrested on "Action Day' Read When Will They Ever Learn? Investors in 35 Countries Get Burned in Medical Cannabis Scam Modelled on Juicy Fields' Brazen Marketing Spanish police swoop on multi-million Euro scam after brazen gang copied JF's high profile methods to lure unsuspecting victims into parting with their cash for wildly unrealistic returns from medical cannabis Read NEXT PREVIOUS Cannabis in South Africa: The People’s Plant We are a civil society organisation with the interests of the existing Cannabis industry and the Human Rights of ALL citizens at heart. WE’RE BRINGING A NEW STANDARD We are more than just a cannabis retail company. We are about a lifestyle that promotes vitality, balance & good health. Resources & Equipment Explore cannabis growing equipment for growing weed at home. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re looking to enhance your outdoor or indoor weed grow setup – we have the perfect range of cannabis growing equipment to match your marijuana growing ambitions. ​ Find everything from LED grow lights, grow tents, fans, and hydroponic setups, to environmental equipment and controls, harvesting accessories, extraction equipment and plenty more. Design your ideal cannabis growing setup with high quality growing equipment available in South Africa. Explore cannabis growing equipment we’ve curated from reliable online suppliers in South Africa Explore More

Nyandeni Municipality Punts Cannabis as an Investment Opportunity to Ease Dreadful Poverty Explore More Thailand: Pro Cannabis Party Makes Better Than Expected Parliamentary Gains Explore More Portland, Oregon is the Most “Cannabis Friendly" City in the US; Birmingham, Alabama the Least Explore More PREVIOUS NEXT Myrtle Clarke, co-founder Fields of Green For All 24/05/02, 08:00 Activist organization Fields of Green for All has come out in support of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill which is sitting on the President’s desk, waiting to be signed into law. FGFA co-founder Myrtle Clarke says the Bill will see cannabis taken out of the Drugs Act and its imperfections can be tweaked in future legal challenges. This post first appeared on Fields of Green for All website on 25 April 2024 The South African government has a public relations problem. Everyone knows that. Should our government have put out a press release about the process that they intend to follow with regards to Cannabis, perhaps we wouldn’t be seeing these divisions in our community, which we certainly cannot afford. However, the bosses are not going to polish up their act anytime soon so it is left to the community to speculate, or strategise. Take your pick. Calling one another conspiratorial names also won’t help anyone. Fields of Green for ALL supports the signing into law of the imperfect (nobody ever suggested that it was perfect) Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill (CfPPB) because this means that Cannabis will be taken out of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act of 1992, with all sorts of happy knock-on consequences. Cannabis, now defined to exclude ‘hemp’, will no longer be broadly PROHIBITED. This significant step is a gain for us all, and will create an enabling environment in which we can move forward with regulations, plus actions that further advance our human rights. We would rather bring Court challenges to tweak the bits and pieces than to continue to fight for years for the big, broad stuff already being offered to us. This will serve to narrow the aim of any further strategic litigation. Threatening to hold our State President in contempt of court is not only nonsensical, but will keep our community in a static, combative and uninformed position. Such action, should it even be possible or viable, is not strategic. It is knee-jerk and hardly constructive. Nobody ever said that we want an unregulated free-for-all, even in private. If they did, they were rightly laughed off stage. That’s not how the social contract works. Regulations were always on the cards. That is what legal regulation is all about – striking a balance between legitimate state and civilian interests. Who knows how the regulations will unfold or what the process will be? Who knew that we would only get privacy in the March 2017 judgment in the Western Cape High Court, which informed the 2018 judgment of the Constitutional Court? Internationally, this was groundbreaking. At home, we’ve come to realise that it sucks … sort of. But please let’s move forward, instead of stagnating in our own pity. The answer to over-regulation isn’t zero regulation. It’s a constructive debate about the correct balances, which won’t be had if we don’t move forward from out of the starting blocks. How do we even have that debate until we see the proposed draft regulations to the CfPPB? Unless we are willing to wait years more to budge an inch, only those regulations can address and mitigate the most worrying aspects of the CfPPB – penalties and plant counting. Fields of Green for ALL has been working with our “Ten Crisis Points” for a few years now. The CfPPB does not tick any of these boxes, but we STILL support our President signing. We have solutions. Our whole Cannabis community has solutions. The CfPPB is not a one way street. Please don’t implore us to go backwards. Look how far we have come. Self interest cannot be allowed to beat the collective interest this time. This is about more than Oom rooking loads of homegrown boom on his couch. Take a look outside and see that there are others patiently waiting to benefit from the potential of cannabis. Ubuntu , matey! One of the most common fallacies in Western philosophy is “All or Nothing” and this “presents a false dilemma by suggesting that there are only two options – either all or nothing – when in fact there are many more options in the middle ground between those two extremes.” Continuing to be entirely uncompromising means that we will remain at 0%, when something that is a pass-worthy percentage is peaking just over the near horizon, with potential for even more improvement. The signing of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill by our President presents numerous opportunities, not failures – a fresh start after the dark days of being stuck in the regime of the Drugs Act. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, or lose ourselves in our own smoke. # SOUTH AFRICAN CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Brought to you by: Open Letter to those in our Cannabis Community Opposing the Signing of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill Home African News South African News International News All News Marketplace Business News More All South African News Are Sponsored by: CHEEBA AFRICA Hydrobiz Support Locals Networking for your business Meet like minded people Advertise with us today Connecting People Opportunity for all Supporting Business Growth

CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Major Banks Interested in Cannabis Sector But Legislation Prevents Them From Investing South African mainstream banks can't invest in cannabis because the current legislation inhibits financial institutions from putting money into the industry. The Mail and Guardian got the views of Absa, Firstrand and Nedbank on the cannabis sector By Anathi Madubela, Mail and Guardian with additional reporting by Sarah Smit 1 May 2024 at 09:00:00 Under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act cannabis is still outlawed but new legislation would decriminalise the stimulant, allowing for money to flow into the industry. Major banks, including Nedbank , FirstRand and Absa , have said they have followed the sector with interest, but have not been proactive in financing it because of the restrictive legislative framework. “The company is looking at this industry and assessing where it would be appropriate for us to support it, but at this stage we haven’t had any meaningful involvement,” said Sam Moss, head of investor relations at FirstRand. He said clarity was needed on how the industry would be regulated to ensure the product was used appropriately, in the case of medicinal use, and how the risks of potential abuse would be mitigated. “If the regulation proves to be robust, we expect to support projects in the value chain, perhaps initially on a relatively restricted basis as the industry matures,” Moss added. Absa said it had noted the latest legislative developments regarding the cannabis industry and would monitor and adapt the bank’s policy positions in response to the changes in the external environment and ­client needs. “Absa recognises the growing focus on the cannabis industry in South Africa to unlock economic opportunities, including job creation. We are committed to participating in the provision of financial products and services within the enabling legislative framework and internal policy positions,” the bank said. Nedbank’s agriculture head John Hudson highlighted the rigorous regulatory and approval processes that acts as a barrier for the bank to invest in the cannabis industry. “While cannabis as a sector has potential, it requires proper planning, adequate funding, access to relevant expertise and having an offtake,” he said. The process of passing enabling legislation and developing policy has dragged on since the constitutional court overturned the laws banning cannabis in 2018. At present, cannabis can only be grown commercially for the medical export market in terms of a licence issued by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority . The cannabis bill, drafted in response to the court’s order, was meant to have been passed by 2020, but has been sent back several times. In its present form , the law continues to prescribe jail sentences for trading in cannabis, leaving the ­creation of a framework for a legal cannabis industry to the passing of further legislation. “The government has been disastrous in terms of its delivery of legislation. It’s been five years since the cannabis for private purposes bill was tabled and it is still sitting on [President Cyril] Ramaphosa’s desk. If it does not get signed off before the elections, another six months could be added before it is even looked at,” said Trenton Birch, the chief executive at Cheeba Africa Cannabis Academy. “While it’s not a perfect piece of legislation, what it will do is decriminalise cannabis and allow cannabis to be removed from the Drugs Act. Which means cannabis becomes legalised to some degree and investors will more likely be willing to put money into the industry,” he said. Birch said the banking sector still views cannabis as a narcotic and so it is not interested in reforming its own internal policies to facilitate investment into the sector. “They have protocols and legislation that they need to adhere to as financial institutions, so they are very risk averse. The last place I would go to for funding as an entrepreneur trying to enter the cannabis space is a bank,” he said. Birch said the government has also committed minimal financial support, especially for training. Ramaphosa has made reference to the cannabis economy in several of his State of the Nation addresses. In 2023, the president reiterated the government’s commitment made in 2022 to unlock investment in the hemp and cannabis sector. “We are moving to create the conditions for the sector to grow,” Ramaphosa said in his speech. In 2022, the president announced plans for the growth of the cannabis and hemp industry, recognising the industry’s potential for investment. According to Ramaphosa: “The legal hemp and cannabis sector has the potential to create more than 130 000 new jobs in South Africa.” In 2021 , the South African cannabis industry had an estimated worth of R87.7 million. This figure is projected to reach R406.3 million by 2026, with a projected growth rate of 28.4%. None of this has happened yet and according to Birch the only way to start a cannabis business right now is to fund it by asking friends and family. Darryl Weisz, chief executive of investment fund Silverleaf Investments, said looking at global case studies, he’s seen best practice in terms of financing the cannabis industry when the government is integrally involved in the legalisation of cannabis. “The lack of legislative reform is inhibiting investments into the cannabis industry,” he said. Weisz noted that marijuana that is not registered as medical cannabis, which can only be offered to the public with a doctor’s script, is still contained in the Drugs Act. “Nedbank, Absa and FNB would have difficulty financing the sector. Medical cannabis facilities have struggled to get funding from the banks. The legislative hurdles need to be overcome for the industry to be unlocked,” he said. “The banks are very hesitant. Their hands are tied.” — South African Willem v d Merwe Among those Arrested for JuicyFields Scam: Also Faces Fraud Charges in Cape Town Over Missing Investor Cash About 200 South Africans were among the hundreds of thousands of investors who lost cash through JucyFields Read Finally, the First JuicyFields Arrests – “The Russian” is Tracked Down in the Dominican Republic As Europol Cracks the Whip JuicyFields' alleged ring-leader Sergei Berenzin was one of the first to be arrested on "Action Day' Read When Will They Ever Learn? Investors in 35 Countries Get Burned in Medical Cannabis Scam Modelled on Juicy Fields' Brazen Marketing Spanish police swoop on multi-million Euro scam after brazen gang copied JF's high profile methods to lure unsuspecting victims into parting with their cash for wildly unrealistic returns from medical cannabis Read NEXT PREVIOUS Cannabis in South Africa: The People’s Plant We are a civil society organisation with the interests of the existing Cannabis industry and the Human Rights of ALL citizens at heart. WE’RE BRINGING A NEW STANDARD We are more than just a cannabis retail company. We are about a lifestyle that promotes vitality, balance & good health. Resources & Equipment Explore cannabis growing equipment for growing weed at home. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re looking to enhance your outdoor or indoor weed grow setup – we have the perfect range of cannabis growing equipment to match your marijuana growing ambitions. ​ Find everything from LED grow lights, grow tents, fans, and hydroponic setups, to environmental equipment and controls, harvesting accessories, extraction equipment and plenty more. Design your ideal cannabis growing setup with high quality growing equipment available in South Africa. Explore cannabis growing equipment we’ve curated from reliable online suppliers in South Africa Explore More

Nyandeni Municipality Punts Cannabis as an Investment Opportunity to Ease Dreadful Poverty Explore More Thailand: Pro Cannabis Party Makes Better Than Expected Parliamentary Gains Explore More Portland, Oregon is the Most “Cannabis Friendly" City in the US; Birmingham, Alabama the Least Explore More PREVIOUS NEXT By Anathi Madubela, Mail and Guardian with additional reporting by Sarah Smit 24/05/01, 09:00 South African mainstream banks can't invest in cannabis because the current legislation inhibits financial institutions from putting money into the industry. The Mail and Guardian got the views of Absa, Firstrand and Nedbank on the cannabis sector Under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act cannabis is still outlawed but new legislation would decriminalise the stimulant, allowing for money to flow into the industry. Major banks, including Nedbank , FirstRand and Absa , have said they have followed the sector with interest, but have not been proactive in financing it because of the restrictive legislative framework. “The company is looking at this industry and assessing where it would be appropriate for us to support it, but at this stage we haven’t had any meaningful involvement,” said Sam Moss, head of investor relations at FirstRand. He said clarity was needed on how the industry would be regulated to ensure the product was used appropriately, in the case of medicinal use, and how the risks of potential abuse would be mitigated. “If the regulation proves to be robust, we expect to support projects in the value chain, perhaps initially on a relatively restricted basis as the industry matures,” Moss added. Absa said it had noted the latest legislative developments regarding the cannabis industry and would monitor and adapt the bank’s policy positions in response to the changes in the external environment and ­client needs. “Absa recognises the growing focus on the cannabis industry in South Africa to unlock economic opportunities, including job creation. We are committed to participating in the provision of financial products and services within the enabling legislative framework and internal policy positions,” the bank said. Nedbank’s agriculture head John Hudson highlighted the rigorous regulatory and approval processes that acts as a barrier for the bank to invest in the cannabis industry. “While cannabis as a sector has potential, it requires proper planning, adequate funding, access to relevant expertise and having an offtake,” he said. The process of passing enabling legislation and developing policy has dragged on since the constitutional court overturned the laws banning cannabis in 2018. At present, cannabis can only be grown commercially for the medical export market in terms of a licence issued by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority . The cannabis bill, drafted in response to the court’s order, was meant to have been passed by 2020, but has been sent back several times. In its present form , the law continues to prescribe jail sentences for trading in cannabis, leaving the ­creation of a framework for a legal cannabis industry to the passing of further legislation. “The government has been disastrous in terms of its delivery of legislation. It’s been five years since the cannabis for private purposes bill was tabled and it is still sitting on [President Cyril] Ramaphosa’s desk. If it does not get signed off before the elections, another six months could be added before it is even looked at,” said Trenton Birch, the chief executive at Cheeba Africa Cannabis Academy. “While it’s not a perfect piece of legislation, what it will do is decriminalise cannabis and allow cannabis to be removed from the Drugs Act. Which means cannabis becomes legalised to some degree and investors will more likely be willing to put money into the industry,” he said. Birch said the banking sector still views cannabis as a narcotic and so it is not interested in reforming its own internal policies to facilitate investment into the sector. “They have protocols and legislation that they need to adhere to as financial institutions, so they are very risk averse. The last place I would go to for funding as an entrepreneur trying to enter the cannabis space is a bank,” he said. Birch said the government has also committed minimal financial support, especially for training. Ramaphosa has made reference to the cannabis economy in several of his State of the Nation addresses. In 2023, the president reiterated the government’s commitment made in 2022 to unlock investment in the hemp and cannabis sector. “We are moving to create the conditions for the sector to grow,” Ramaphosa said in his speech. In 2022, the president announced plans for the growth of the cannabis and hemp industry, recognising the industry’s potential for investment. According to Ramaphosa: “The legal hemp and cannabis sector has the potential to create more than 130 000 new jobs in South Africa.” In 2021 , the South African cannabis industry had an estimated worth of R87.7 million. This figure is projected to reach R406.3 million by 2026, with a projected growth rate of 28.4%. None of this has happened yet and according to Birch the only way to start a cannabis business right now is to fund it by asking friends and family. Darryl Weisz, chief executive of investment fund Silverleaf Investments, said looking at global case studies, he’s seen best practice in terms of financing the cannabis industry when the government is integrally involved in the legalisation of cannabis. “The lack of legislative reform is inhibiting investments into the cannabis industry,” he said. Weisz noted that marijuana that is not registered as medical cannabis, which can only be offered to the public with a doctor’s script, is still contained in the Drugs Act. “Nedbank, Absa and FNB would have difficulty financing the sector. Medical cannabis facilities have struggled to get funding from the banks. The legislative hurdles need to be overcome for the industry to be unlocked,” he said. “The banks are very hesitant. Their hands are tied.” — SOUTH AFRICAN CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Brought to you by: Major Banks Interested in Cannabis Sector But Legislation Prevents Them From Investing Home African News South African News International News All News Marketplace Business News More All South African News Are Sponsored by: CHEEBA AFRICA Hydrobiz Support Locals Networking for your business Meet like minded people Advertise with us today Connecting People Opportunity for all Supporting Business Growth

Nyandeni Municipality Punts Cannabis as an Investment Opportunity to Ease Dreadful Poverty Explore More Thailand: Pro Cannabis Party Makes Better Than Expected Parliamentary Gains Explore More Portland, Oregon is the Most “Cannabis Friendly" City in the US; Birmingham, Alabama the Least Explore More PREVIOUS NEXT Cannabiz Africa and Tumi Makgale, Cape Town Today 24/05/01, 08:00 The Eastern Cape’s MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Nonkqubela Pieters says the Eastern Cape is forging ahead to support its rural cannabis farmers with cultivation material and fencing in the pipeline for them. Speaking at the launch of the Eastern Cape cannabis initiative in partnership with Medigrow, Pieters said the province wanted to be a dominant force in cannabis production, aiming to control the entire production cycle, from planting the seeds to packaging the final products, all within Eastern Cape’s boundaries. Pieters highlighted the potential of this emerging sector by discussing the assistance offered to more than 120 cannabis farmers in obtaining hemp permits. The provincial administration trained 126 cannabis cultivators and 20 agricultural advisors through the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA), demonstrating its dedication to this burgeoning industry. In an effort to further optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming, procurement of 6 tonnes of hemp seeds, 1,000 litres of herbicides, and 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers, along with fencing material, is in progress. She said “These resources will be allocated among the farmers, equipping them to plant hemp and reap its economic rewards.” The report below from Tumi Makgale, Cape Town Today , published on 30 April 2023. Economic and Social Implications At the 28 April 2024 Coega meeting MEC Pieters emphasized the importance of diversifying the province’s economy, supplementing the manufacturing sector that has played a crucial role in generating employment opportunities and aiding Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). Viewing agriculture as the province’s economic dynamo, the cannabis strategy aims to leverage the collective strength of investors, financiers, entrepreneurs, and the government to promote a comprehensive economy. True to its definition, an inclusive economy must proliferate to create opportunities for everyone. To realize this vision, Pieters stressed the importance of upgrading industrial capacity to meet the demands of both local and international markets. The investment in infrastructure, intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, is especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. Expressing her gratitude for Premier Mabuyane’s forward-thinking leadership, Pieters praised his guidance in steering the province towards this milestone initiative. From the onset of the 6th administration, Mabuyane had recognized the potential of the cannabis sector, and today, the rewards of this foresight are ripe for the picking. In reference to Nelson Mandela’s speech at his farewell banquet in 1999, Pieters concluded with the belief that the African National Congress (ANC) possesses the capability to overcome any forthcoming challenges. She conveyed her confidence that the South African residents would continue to elect the ANC and uphold the achievements of democracy and freedom. As the event drew to a close, Pieters restated the gathering’s purpose: for the Premier to disclose the cannabis investor, marking a new chapter of growth and prosperity for Eastern Cape and its residents. This significant event, in essence, signified the commencement of Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution , a leap towards cannabis commercialization, promising untapped economic prospects and inclusive growth. 1. What is the Eastern Cape’s strategy for the commercialization of cannabis? The Eastern Cape’s strategy for the commercialization of cannabis involves controlling the entire production cycle from planting to packaging, aimed at diversifying the economy and creating employment opportunities. The province has already helped over 120 cannabis farmers obtain hemp permits. 2. How is the Eastern Cape investing in infrastructure to benefit the province’s youth and women? The investment in infrastructure is intended to benefit the province’s youth and women, with the aim of promoting inclusive growth. The province views agriculture as the economic dynamo, and the cannabis strategy aims to leverage the collective strength of investors, financiers, entrepreneurs, and the government to promote a comprehensive economy. 3. How is the Eastern Cape promoting inclusive growth through the commercialization of cannabis? The investment in infrastructure, intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, is especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. By positioning itself as a dominant force in cannabis production, the province aims to diversify its economy and supplement the manufacturing sector, generating employment opportunities and aiding SMMEs. 4. How does the Eastern Cape plan to optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming? In an effort to further optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming, procurement of 6 tonnes of hemp seeds, 1,000 litres of herbicides, and 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers, along with fencing material, is in progress. These resources will be allocated among the farmers, equipping them to plant hemp and reap its economic rewards. 5. What are the economic and social implications of the Eastern Cape’s cannabis strategy? The Eastern Cape’s cannabis strategy aims to supplement the manufacturing sector that has played a crucial role in generating employment opportunities and aiding Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). The investment in infrastructure is intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. 6. What is the significance of the Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution? The Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution signifies the commencement of cannabis commercialization, promising untapped economic prospects and inclusive growth. The strategy lays the groundwork for cultivating a competent workforce, nurturing entrepreneurial concepts, stimulating innovation, and advancing research and development. By controlling the entire production cycle, the province aims to diversify its economy and supplement the manufacturing sector, generating employment opportunities and aiding SMMEs. # SOUTH AFRICAN CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Brought to you by: E Cape MEC: It’s Happening! 6 tons of seeds, 1,3 tons of Fertllizer and Fencing on Order for Province's Cannabis Farmers Home African News South African News International News All News Marketplace Business News More All South African News Are Sponsored by: CHEEBA AFRICA Hydrobiz Support Locals Networking for your business Meet like minded people Advertise with us today Connecting People Opportunity for all Supporting Business Growth

CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS E Cape MEC: It’s Happening! 6 tons of seeds, 1,3 tons of Fertllizer and Fencing on Order for Province's Cannabis Farmers The Eastern Cape’s MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Nonkqubela Pieters says the Eastern Cape is forging ahead to support its rural cannabis farmers with cultivation material and fencing in the pipeline for them. Cannabiz Africa and Tumi Makgale, Cape Town Today 1 May 2024 at 08:00:00 Speaking at the launch of the Eastern Cape cannabis initiative in partnership with Medigrow, Pieters said the province wanted to be a dominant force in cannabis production, aiming to control the entire production cycle, from planting the seeds to packaging the final products, all within Eastern Cape’s boundaries. Pieters highlighted the potential of this emerging sector by discussing the assistance offered to more than 120 cannabis farmers in obtaining hemp permits. The provincial administration trained 126 cannabis cultivators and 20 agricultural advisors through the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA), demonstrating its dedication to this burgeoning industry. In an effort to further optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming, procurement of 6 tonnes of hemp seeds, 1,000 litres of herbicides, and 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers, along with fencing material, is in progress. She said “These resources will be allocated among the farmers, equipping them to plant hemp and reap its economic rewards.” The report below from Tumi Makgale, Cape Town Today , published on 30 April 2023. Economic and Social Implications At the 28 April 2024 Coega meeting MEC Pieters emphasized the importance of diversifying the province’s economy, supplementing the manufacturing sector that has played a crucial role in generating employment opportunities and aiding Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). Viewing agriculture as the province’s economic dynamo, the cannabis strategy aims to leverage the collective strength of investors, financiers, entrepreneurs, and the government to promote a comprehensive economy. True to its definition, an inclusive economy must proliferate to create opportunities for everyone. To realize this vision, Pieters stressed the importance of upgrading industrial capacity to meet the demands of both local and international markets. The investment in infrastructure, intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, is especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. Expressing her gratitude for Premier Mabuyane’s forward-thinking leadership, Pieters praised his guidance in steering the province towards this milestone initiative. From the onset of the 6th administration, Mabuyane had recognized the potential of the cannabis sector, and today, the rewards of this foresight are ripe for the picking. In reference to Nelson Mandela’s speech at his farewell banquet in 1999, Pieters concluded with the belief that the African National Congress (ANC) possesses the capability to overcome any forthcoming challenges. She conveyed her confidence that the South African residents would continue to elect the ANC and uphold the achievements of democracy and freedom. As the event drew to a close, Pieters restated the gathering’s purpose: for the Premier to disclose the cannabis investor, marking a new chapter of growth and prosperity for Eastern Cape and its residents. This significant event, in essence, signified the commencement of Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution , a leap towards cannabis commercialization, promising untapped economic prospects and inclusive growth. 1. What is the Eastern Cape’s strategy for the commercialization of cannabis? The Eastern Cape’s strategy for the commercialization of cannabis involves controlling the entire production cycle from planting to packaging, aimed at diversifying the economy and creating employment opportunities. The province has already helped over 120 cannabis farmers obtain hemp permits. 2. How is the Eastern Cape investing in infrastructure to benefit the province’s youth and women? The investment in infrastructure is intended to benefit the province’s youth and women, with the aim of promoting inclusive growth. The province views agriculture as the economic dynamo, and the cannabis strategy aims to leverage the collective strength of investors, financiers, entrepreneurs, and the government to promote a comprehensive economy. 3. How is the Eastern Cape promoting inclusive growth through the commercialization of cannabis? The investment in infrastructure, intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, is especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. By positioning itself as a dominant force in cannabis production, the province aims to diversify its economy and supplement the manufacturing sector, generating employment opportunities and aiding SMMEs. 4. How does the Eastern Cape plan to optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming? In an effort to further optimize the economic returns of cannabis farming, procurement of 6 tonnes of hemp seeds, 1,000 litres of herbicides, and 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers, along with fencing material, is in progress. These resources will be allocated among the farmers, equipping them to plant hemp and reap its economic rewards. 5. What are the economic and social implications of the Eastern Cape’s cannabis strategy? The Eastern Cape’s cannabis strategy aims to supplement the manufacturing sector that has played a crucial role in generating employment opportunities and aiding Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). The investment in infrastructure is intended to drive economic transition and inclusive growth, especially aimed to benefit the province’s youth and women. 6. What is the significance of the Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution? The Eastern Cape’s Green Revolution signifies the commencement of cannabis commercialization, promising untapped economic prospects and inclusive growth. The strategy lays the groundwork for cultivating a competent workforce, nurturing entrepreneurial concepts, stimulating innovation, and advancing research and development. By controlling the entire production cycle, the province aims to diversify its economy and supplement the manufacturing sector, generating employment opportunities and aiding SMMEs. # South African Willem v d Merwe Among those Arrested for JuicyFields Scam: Also Faces Fraud Charges in Cape Town Over Missing Investor Cash About 200 South Africans were among the hundreds of thousands of investors who lost cash through JucyFields Read Finally, the First JuicyFields Arrests – “The Russian” is Tracked Down in the Dominican Republic As Europol Cracks the Whip JuicyFields' alleged ring-leader Sergei Berenzin was one of the first to be arrested on "Action Day' Read When Will They Ever Learn? Investors in 35 Countries Get Burned in Medical Cannabis Scam Modelled on Juicy Fields' Brazen Marketing Spanish police swoop on multi-million Euro scam after brazen gang copied JF's high profile methods to lure unsuspecting victims into parting with their cash for wildly unrealistic returns from medical cannabis Read NEXT PREVIOUS Cannabis in South Africa: The People’s Plant We are a civil society organisation with the interests of the existing Cannabis industry and the Human Rights of ALL citizens at heart. WE’RE BRINGING A NEW STANDARD We are more than just a cannabis retail company. We are about a lifestyle that promotes vitality, balance & good health. Resources & Equipment Explore cannabis growing equipment for growing weed at home. 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Nyandeni Municipality Punts Cannabis as an Investment Opportunity to Ease Dreadful Poverty Explore More Thailand: Pro Cannabis Party Makes Better Than Expected Parliamentary Gains Explore More Portland, Oregon is the Most “Cannabis Friendly" City in the US; Birmingham, Alabama the Least Explore More PREVIOUS NEXT Soraia Machad and Sibusiso Dube, Bowmans 24/04/30, 09:00 Bernadette Enever’s recent Labour Court victory over Barloworld has implications that go beyond the merits of this specific case. Bowman’s analyses the ruling and looks at the broader consequences of the cannabis ruling for the labour market. This report from Bowmans, published 25 April 2024. OVERVIEW What happens when the private use of cannabis at home results in an employee presenting themselves in the workplace and testing positive for cannabis? The Labour Court grappled with this question and dismissed the Appellant's case. The Labour Appeal Court has now set aside that finding of the Labour Court. This article unpacks the decision in Enever v Barloworld Equipment South Africa, a Division of Barloworld South Africa (Pty) Ltd (JA86/22) [2024] ZALAC (23 April 2024). In the recent case of Enever v Barloworld Equipment South Africa, a Division of Barloworld South Africa (Pty) Ltd (JA86/22) [2024] ZALAC (23 April 2024), the Labour Appeal Court (LAC ) set aside the order of the Labour Court where it was held that the dismissal of an employee who tested positive for cannabis in the workplace was fair. Since the Constitutional Court’s decision in Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince, it has been a known fact that it is not a criminal offence for adults to cultivate, possess and use cannabis in the privacy of their homes. However, what happens when the private use of cannabis at home results in an employee presenting themselves in the workplace and testing positive for cannabis? The Labour Court grappled with this question and dismissed the Appellant’s case. The LAC has now set aside that finding of the Labour Court. Background facts Ms Berndadette Enever (Appellant ) was employed by Barloworld Equipment South Africa (Respondent ) as a category analyst. The Respondent has an Employee Policy Handbook which incorporates the Respondent’s zero-tolerance approach to the possession and consumption of drugs and alcohol in the workplace (Policy ). By accepting and signing the Handbook, the Appellant agreed to random, voluntary and scheduled drug testing. On 29 January 2020, the Appellant was required to undergo medical testing, including a urine test. The Appellant’s results came back positive for cannabis, and she was sent home. The Respondent subjected the Appellant to a disciplinary hearing where she pleaded guilty and was summarily dismissed on 30 April 2020. After her dismissal, the Appellant referred an automatically unfair dismissal and unfair discrimination dispute to the Labour Court in terms of which she alleged that the Respondent had unfairly discriminated against her by applying the zero-tolerance approach and as a result, her dismissal was automatically unfair. The Labour Court ultimately found that the Appellant had wrongly elected to pursue a case of unfair discrimination where discrimination was not present. The Appellant’s dismissal arose from normal misconduct which is a matter that falls out of the jurisdiction of the Labour Court to decide on a basis of first instance. Further, the Appellant’s wilful breach of the Policy amounted to misconduct and a sanction of dismissal was correct under the circumstances. The Appellant referred the matter to the LAC on appeal. Findings of the LAC The LAC had four issues to determine, namely: whether the Respondent differentiated between the Appellant and its other employees; whether there was a direct causal connection between the Appellant testing positive for cannabis and her dismissal, which constitutes ‘an act of discrimination against her based on her spirituality, conscience and belief, alternatively, on an arbitrary ground in terms of section 187(1)(f) of the LRA’; whether the Policy was unfair and discriminatory; and whether the Respondent’s approach was insulting, degrading and humiliating and an impairment of the Appellant’s dignity. The LAC did not deal with the issue as to whether there was a direct causal connection between the Appellant’s positive test and her dismissal as this was accepted by the Respondent. In determining whether the Appellant was subject to unfair discrimination on a listed ground, the LAC interpreted ‘spirituality’ to be synonymous with the listed ground of religion. The LAC agreed with the Labour Court that the link between the Appellant’s dismissal and the use of cannabis was not because of her spiritual views, conscience or beliefs in that she admitted that she smoked cannabis recreationally. When determining whether the Policy differentiated between alcohol and cannabis users on an arbitrary ground, the Appellant was required to show that there was an impairment to her human dignity in a comparable manner to discrimination on a listed ground. Whilst alcohol and cannabis users were subjected to the same treatment by being sent home if they tested positive, alcohol users could return to work the following day and test negative. However, this would not be the case for cannabis users as cannabis has been found to stay in the body for a longer period. A positive cannabis result thus does not address the sobriety of the cannabis user and whether they are impaired from carrying out their duties. The Appellant submitted that she faced discrimination as a cannabis user which impaired her dignity by violating her right to privacy (specifically to use cannabis in the privacy of her home) and ‘subjecting her to a humiliating process that portrayed her as a junkie’ when testing positive for cannabis did not mean that she was impaired in the performance of her duties. The LAC stated that the decision in the Prince case impacted on the nature of an employee’s right to privacy and that an employer cannot disregard an employee’s privacy when implementing or acting in terms of its policies. Whilst employers may have justifiable occupational health and safety reasons to bar certain conduct of its employees, the LAC found that this was not a justifiable reason for the infringement of the Appellant’s right to privacy. In reaching this conclusion, the LAC reasoned that: the use of a blood test alone without proof of impairment on the work premises is a violation of the Appellant’s dignity and privacy; the Policy prevented the Appellant from engaging in conduct that is of no effect to the Respondent; the Policy placed the Appellant in a situation where she was forced to choose between her job and the exercise of her right to consume cannabis; and the Respondent could not show that the Appellant’s work was adversely affected or that she created an unsafe working environment for herself or fellow employees. The LAC stated that while the Respondent did operate in an environment with heavy machinery, the Policy was unjustifiably overbroad, and the same standards could not be applied to an employee who works in an office outside of the dangerous environment. The LAC did not accept that the zero-tolerance rule was justifiable because the Respondent had a generally dangerous working environment or that it was an inherent requirement of the job not to consume cannabis. In this regard, the LAC upheld the appeal, and her dismissal was found to be automatically unfair on the basis of unfair discrimination. The Appellant was awarded 24 months’ compensation. Key takeaways The LAC essentially found that because cannabis stays in the body much longer than alcohol, the only way the Appellant could comply with the Policy is by not smoking cannabis at all. This meant that she had to choose between her job and her right to smoke cannabis in private. Essentially, the Appellant had been dismissed for intoxication in circumstances where she was not intoxicated. That the employer had a zero-tolerance approach was irrelevant in this regard and there was no justifiable reason to limit the Appellant’s rights. Importantly, however, the LAC stressed that this finding may not be true for other employees of the Respondent whose circumstances and work environment may be different. As such, employers need to reconsider their substance abuse policies and ensure that they are drafted in a manner that will not be seen to be infringing unjustifiably on the rights of their employees. A practical approach to this will be required and not an overall reliance on a zero-tolerance policy. Various alcohol intoxication cases in the Labour Courts have held that a breathalyser is not conclusive to justify dismissal and should be coupled with other evidence such as the employee’s behaviour which is generally associated with alcohol intoxication. The LAC, in this case, stated that a similar jurisprudence should develop in relation to the known symptoms of cannabis consumption and their effect compared to the duties associated with the nature of the employee’s job. Ultimately, of importance for employers, is that when relying on a substance abuse policy, intoxication must be proven, unless it can be shown that a zero-tolerance approach is an inherent requirement of the job for the particular employee/s concerned. # SOUTH AFRICAN CANNABIS INDUSTRY BREAKING NEWS Brought to you by: Leading Law Firm Bowmans’ Out-Take on the Barloworld vs Enever Cannabis Labour Dispute Home African News South African News International News All News Marketplace Business News More All South African News Are Sponsored by: CHEEBA AFRICA Hydrobiz Support Locals Networking for your business Meet like minded people Advertise with us today Connecting People Opportunity for all Supporting Business Growth