Tapuwa Mashangwa
AS globalisation integrates the functionality of all countries, the process of integration and development will eventually become more similar. These similarities will make the product and service provision internationally easier and more manageable, simultaneously increasing competitiveness and providing multiple choices for consumers. On the international agricultural market Zimbabwe has stepped onto the cannabis arena.

The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, has announced that the production of cannabis (mbanje or dagga) for medicinal and scientific purposes has been legalised under Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018 (Dangerous Drugs — Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations). The development has caught most people off guard and is a welcome move as now more research can be done into the benefits of cannabis and also its production will provide the country with much needed foreign currency through value addition.

Cannabis is a tall annual dioecious (a plant or invertebrate animal having the male and female reproductive organs in separate individuals) plant native to central Asia and having alternatively palmately divided leaves and tough bast fibres. It is a mildly euphoriant, intoxicating hallucinogenic drug prepared from various parts of this plant. The common cannabinoid is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is responsible for getting high after the intake of high amounts of cannabis.

According to an article from “Medical Uses of Cannabis and THC”, there are marked differences in the knowledge on the medical uses of cannabis and cannabinoids in different diseases.

For nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, anorexia and cachexia in HIV/Aids, chronic, especially neuropathic pain, spasticity in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, there is strong evidence for medical benefits.

For many other indications, such as epilepsy, pruritus and depression there is much less available data. However, the scientific evidence for a specific indication does not necessarily reflect the actual therapeutic potential for a given disease.

Clinical studies with single cannabinoids or whole plant preparations (smoked cannabis, cannabis extract) have often been inspired by positive anecdotal experiences of patients employing crude cannabis products.

The anti-emetic, the appetite enhancing, relaxing effects, analgesia, and therapeutic use in Tourette’s syndrome were all discovered in this manner. The countries producing the most marijuana in descending order are Morocco, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Spain, India, Pakistan, Netherlands, Nepal, Turkey and Jamaica.

According to Viridian Capital Advisors research in 2016 the largest cannabis trading companies in descending order are as follows: GW Pharmaceuticals — Leader in cannabinoid-based medicine, specialising in treatment of rare and catastrophic forms of childhood-onset epilepsy with a Market cap of $2.87 billion; Canopy Growth — Toronto-traded Canopy Growth Corp is a diversified cannabis company that produces and sells legal marijuana in the Canadian medical market with a market cap of $780.6 million.

Insys Therapeutics – Insys Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has had two cannabis-based drugs approved by the FDA, the most recent is Syndros which boosts appetite for cancer and Aids-related patients suffering from weight loss with a Market cap of $664.6 million.

Aurora Cannabis – Aurora Cannabis Inc. also trades on Toronto’s venture exchange and is another Canadian company focused on growing and selling medical marijuana. It grows both psychoactive THC products and medically oriented CBD products with a Market cap of $433.8 million; Axim Biotechnologies — Axim Biotechnologies Inc. is a biotech firm developing CBD-based treatments for pain, spasticity, anxiety and other medical disorders with a market cap of $401.6 million. Medical Marijuana — Medical Marijuana Inc. is a development stage company that develops, sells and distributes hemp oil that contains naturally occurring cannabinoids with a market cap of $380.1 million.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals — is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company currently developing a synthetic oral CBD-mimetic drug called Resunab, which reduces the symptoms of systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disease in which inflammation from the immune system leads to progressively worse fibrosis with a market cap of $375.5 million. Aphria — Aprhia Inc. also trades on Canada’s venture exchange and is another grower and seller of medical weed through retail stores and wholesale distribution with a market cap of $373.6 million. Arena Pharmaceuticals — Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a bio-pharma company that developed and distributes a weight-loss drug known as Belviq with a market cap of $340.6 million and lastly in the top ten, Cara Therapeutics – Cara Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage bio-pharma company developing and selling treatments for pain and pruritus (severe itching of the skin) with a market cap of $251 million.

This means that companies that will pioneer cannabis production in Zimbabwe stand to make huge profits as they become global competitors in the cannabis pharmaceutical sector.

The paramount issue surrounding the production of cannabis will be the regulation and monitoring of the cannabis supply. The average street value price is about $5 for five to 10 grams of landrace marijuana that is about average in quality which means that illegal suppliers stand to make huge profits once they tap into the production-supply chain for black market cannabis transactions.

Also NGOs and the health care sector should start training people on the negative effects of cannabis abuse. There is a good and bad side to most scientific research and application information/products and services.

*Eng. Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, Group CEO Emerald International Consortium and CEO Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy. He can be contacted on +263 771 641 714 and email: [email protected]