Zimbabwe Legalises Marijuana

Zimbabwe has followed Lesotho by legalising the production of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes, making it the second African country to turn the drug into a source of revenue.

However, recreational use of the drug known in the country as ‘mbanje or dagga’ remains illegal.

A government notice by the health and child care minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa says individuals and corporations can apply for licenses to grow marijuana, whose production and possession had brought up to 12 years in prison.

Dr David Parirenyatwa: health and child care minister of Zimbabwe: announces the new rule on marijuana


Producers of mbanje must be licensed by the minister, reported Zimbabwe Herald.

The notice was contained in a Government Gazette Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018 (Dangerous Drugs – Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations).