Cannabis in Uganda

Cannabis in Uganda was legalized as of the 5th of May, 2023 by the Constitutional Court after the law prohibiting its use was nullified. It was ruled that, "[...] since the provisions that banned dealing in miraa were not handled by parliament independent of the rest of the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2015, it is only prudent that the entire law is nullified"[1]

The drug is locally referred to as njaga'or 'shada'.[2]

History

In as early as 1902, the British banned the production of "opium" in Uganda, noting that opium "includes... also the preparation known as bhang, ganja, churus, and chandoo natron".[3] A 1902 British ethnological work noted that cannabis was used in Uganda, only by men, and particularly smoked in a water pipe. Young men of fighting age were not allowed to smoke cannabis.[4]

Cultivation

Although cannabis is grown all across the country, the total cultivated area, based on the 1998 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, is less than 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres). Locally known as bhang, it is believed to be the only drug grown in Uganda.[5] Cultivation is most prevalent in eastern Uganda, especially in Bugiri, Busia, Iganga, Kayunga, Mayuge, and Mukono.[6] Ugandan cannabis is mainly smuggled to neighbouring African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.[6]

Legality

Cannabis was legalized as of the 5th of May, 2023 by the Court after the law prohibiting its use was nullified. The 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report highlighted that there were only two detection dogs for conducting drug searches and no drug test kits or X-ray machines to detect drugs, along with the fact that the local police were both corrupt and inadequately trained. From 2008 to 2010, the government's Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) seized 5 kilograms (11 lb) of cannabis and officially arrested some 482 people for possession of the drug.[6] The ANU also reported that 15 acres (6.1 ha) of cannabis plants were destroyed from 2008 to 2009.[6]

The export of cannabis for medicinal purposes was approved by the Ugandan Ministry of Health in January 2020, which stipulated among other things that all cannabis exporters had to have a minimum capital of one million US dollars plus $5 million as reserve capital.[7] Prior to this, however, Industrial Hemp Uganda, a private company based in Hima, Kasese District, had already been exporting medicinal cannabis to Germany and China.[8]

References
  1. Kazibwe, Kenneth. "Marijuana, miraa now legal in Uganda after court nullifies law prohibiting their use". Nile Post. Nile Post Uganda. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. The East Africa Law Reports. Butterworth's. 1973.
  3. British and Foreign State Papers. H.M. Stationery Office. 1905. pp. 928–.
  4. Charles William Hobley (1902). Eastern Uganda: An Ethnological Survey. Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 30–.
  5. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. The Bureau. 1998. pp. 512–.
  6. William R. Brownfield (May 2011). International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control. DIANE Publishing. pp. 626–627. ISBN 978-1-4379-8272-5.
  7. "6 Million Dollars to Legally Grow Cannabis in Uganda". East Africa Genes. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  8. Ahabwe, Conrad (28 January 2020). "Govt finally approves marijuana growing, releases tough rules for firms". PML Daily.
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