Africa has been lagging behind Western nations with respect to cannabis legalization and regulation, but that may be all about to change. The landlocked country of Lesotho has already granted the continent’s first legal cannabis license, and legalization efforts are picking up steam in a number of other countries.
Cannabis is a popular crop in Africa, despite being prohibited across the continent. A UN survey estimated that over 10,000 tons of cannabis are grown on the continent every year. A good portion of this cannabis is grown in the poverty-stricken country of Lesotho and illegally exported to neighboring South Africa, where it is known as “dagga.” As a result, Lesotho’s government has decided to turn this thriving black market to its advantage, and has offered the first African license for cannabis cultivation and sales to Verve Dynamics, a South African alternative medicine company.
South Africans illegally cultivate around 2,500 tons of dagga every year, in addition to importing it from Lesotho. Earlier this year, the Dagga Party won a landmark ruling that found the country’s cannabis prohibition laws unconstitutional. This ruling prohibits South African law…