The Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru, Zimbabwe has applied for a license to grow cannabis for medical purposes.
Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira says that several other institutions will also be growing cannabis.
Zimbabwe legalized medical cannabis in April of 2018 and authorized the first license in March. The government approved the first 37 cannabis investors in February from a pool of more than 200 foreign and local investors.
“We were told by our former colonial masters that mbanje is illegal and they even promulgated a law prohibiting the smoking of mbanje,” said Professor Murwira during a recent public lecture. “However, it has medicinal properties. So our leadership had a closer look and realised that mbanje can be useful and then legalised the growing of mbanje for medicinal purposes.”
“So we have started doing so,” he said. “MSU itself has applied for a license for growing mbanje.”
Professor Murwira says that the government aims to lower import costs by permitting local pharmaceutical companies to produce cannabis medicines from domestic resources, reports The Herald.
Murwira believes that the country would benefit most by developing and using medicines that are made from resources found within Zimbabwe.
According to Murwira, the Ministers of State have each been instructed to set aside 20 hectares for “industrial hubs” to develop, implement, and operationalize ideas.
