Cannabis will ease economic ills - Sinkamba

CANNABIS production is the only way the country can come out of the current economic crisis caused by the negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic, says Green Party (GP) leader Peter Sinkamba.

Mr Sinkamba said the GP was confident that once the Bill was passed and assented to by the President, the country would be able to benefit from exports of cannabis.

He said cultivation of cannabis was the only way the country could come out of its current economic challenges caused by the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recently, Cabinet approved the Cannabis, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and the Industrial Hemp Bills of 2021 to provide for security measures for the cultivation, exportation and storage of cannabis and Hemps for medicinal and scientific research.

The industrial Hemps Bill also seeks to provide for the licensing of growers, processors, distributors, buyers, exporters of and researchers on industrial hemp.

Mr Sinkamba said Government has been engaging the Zambia Hemps Growers Association (ZHGAZ) and other stakeholders on the matter. He said ZHGAZ is also aware that by next will week, the three bills would be passed and signed into law.

Mr Sinkamba also said the ZHGAZ had been going around the country to lay the ground for the implementation of the three bills that seeks to regulate the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

He called on farmers throughout the country to join the association so that they could be prepared in terms of knowledge on how the programme would be implemented.

“We are up to speed to ensure that once the bills are passed into law, we can hit the ground and start cultivating so that the country can start earning enough much needed forex,” Mr Sinkamba said.