At least 20,000 pharmacies in Canada and Germany have ordered medical Marijuana from neighboring country Uganda. Uganda has secured contracts to export the medical herb products worth more than Ksh 14 billion in June.
The order to a private company Industrial Hemp (U) Limited that works jointly with an Israel company Together Pharma Ltd has been valued at Ksh 1 million, reported The Citizen.
“We signed annual supply contracts with pharmacies in Canada to a tune of $100 million and $65 million for Germany… the current contract runs for 10 years but along the way we shall expand to satisfy future demand,” said Mr Benjamin Cadet, a director at Industrial Hemp (U) Ltd.
The cannabis exports from a farm in Kasese District include Cannabinol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with a mixture of 2.7mg THC and 2.5mg CBD for Sativex drugs approved in the USA, Europe, and Canada.
Oil Risin contains Dronabinol for making Marinol and syndros capsules and CBD-enriched creams for various skin disorders.
[ Read >> Is legal cannabis really such a big business? ]
According to reports, Uganda has been exporting unrefined cannabis buds to South Africa’s National Analytical Forensic Services in Pretoria since December 2017.
About 20 companies in Uganda have written letters to the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng seeking permission to grow cannabis for medical purposes.
The country’s cabinet sub-committee of five members have been tasked to research on the health and financial benefits from medical marijuana. The findings will be tabled on 15th May 2019.
The money-spinning but highly sensitive natural resource, marijuana has been a complex debate in Kenya on whether the government should decriminalize the herb.
Kibra Member of Parliament, Ken Okoth notified the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi of his intention to bring a bill that would legalize the cultivation, distribution and use of marijuana in September last year.
[See also: ODM MP wants marijuana legalised ]
Economist David Ndii and Raila Odinga Junior have been on the fore front urging the government to seriously consider the legalization and control of cannabis sativa in the country.
So far, Lesotho, Zimbambwe and South Africa have legalized medical and recreational use of marijuana to its citizens.
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