Zimbabwe is the second African country after Lesotho to have legalized the cultivation of Marijuana in large quantities for “Medicinal and Scientific Use,” but the money required of interested farmers to acquire license is huge enough to scare citizens from venturing into the cultivation.
Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care Minister Dr. David Parirenyatwa was reported to have said in a Government Gazette that: “Production of Cannabis” is “for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations.”
The regulatory framework states that: “An application for the issue of a license in terms of section 27 of the Act shall be made to the Minister, in duplicate and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee and three copies of a plan of the site proposed to be licensed which shall comply with the requirement specified in these regulations.”
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Furthermore, “In case of an individual, proof of citizenship or proof of being ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe or proof of an exemption by the Minister (will be required).”
However, though the marijuana production is legal in Zimbabwe, it will clearly be exclusively preserved for the wealthy people.
For one to acquire license in order to venture into the wee cultivation, the interested farmer must pay a sum of $50 000 which is equivalent to Ghs 222 985, 00.
That is not all, marijuana farmers must pay an annual return fee of $15,000 while an application to renew a producer’s license will cost $20,000, according to Africafeeds.com.
Application for license to conduct research into marijuana will cost researchers
$5,000 while an application for renewal of the same license will cost $2,500.
The regulation further states that in case a farmer wants an application for variation or amendment of a license, he or she must pay $2,500.
Those who intend to apply for import or export licenses will also pay $5,000, while an inspection license will also cost applicants $2 500.
Basically, marijuana production is legal in Zimbabwe, but not for all Zimbabweans, looking at the level of poverty and desperation in the country.