Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Health Reporter
Government has not suspended licences for growing cannabis and prospective growers can continue submitting their applications, Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said. Responding to recent reports in some sections of the media that Government had suspended issuance of licences to grow mbanje barely a month after gazetting of Statutory Instrument 21 of 2018 which legalised controlled growing of the crop for medicinal use, Dr Parirenyatwa said Government was only fine tuning further guidelines.

“There has been some miscommunication from different sources which has caused misunderstanding with regards to Government’s position to create a framework through legislation, in which the growing processing and marketing of cannabis and its products for medicinal and research use, by duly licensed and monitored entities is legalised.

“SI62 of 2018 whose parent Act is the Dangerous Drugs Act (chapter 15:02) puts the legal framework for this,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.

He said this statutory instrument has therefore neither been repealed nor its implementation been suspended.
“The relevant licensing entity for the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe is fine tuning the necessary further guidelines to help in operationalising of this SI from a regulatory point of view,” said Minister Parirenyatwa.

He said Government further recognises the fact that work on actual production of cannabis and its products required a multi-sectoral approach, which include several ministries and agencies.

Dr Parirenyatwa emphasised that Zimbabwe was legalising mbanje growing only for medicinal purposes.
“It is worth reminding ourselves that this is not a licence to grow mbanje for recreational use, neither is it a licence to sell mbanje on the streets and it is certainly not a licence to smoke mbanje,” he said.

Zimbabwe recently gazetted SI62 of 2018, which is meant to legalise growing of mbanje for medicinal and industrial purposes only.

Prospective growers are required to submit their applications and a fee of $50 000.
In a statement soon after gazetting of the SI last month, Dr Parirenyatwa said the country was looking forward to harness immense benefits of the plant in a “legal and well regulated environment”.

According to the ministry those licensed to grow mbanje will be doing so under strict regulations which include operating under surveillance to ensure they do not abuse Government’s trust on them.

Zimbabwe is the second country in Southern Africa to legalise mbanje growing after Lesotho.