The legal medical marijuana trade is poised to spread to its fifth world region: Africa.
The South African Medical Control Council plans to soon publish “proposed guidelines on cannabis production for medicinal use,” according to Independent Online.
Parliament member Narend Singh told an IOL property, The Mercury, he received a letter from the Medical Control Council’s working group on cannabis about its intent to publish.
But the new proposed regulations – which will still have to be formally implemented – will be aimed at “licensed domestic cultivation of medical cannabis,” the Huffington Post reported.
According to the council’s letter to Singh, “cannabis grown/cultivated for medicinal purposes, as well as any resulting products prepared from the plant material, will remain subject to stringent security and quality control measures,” the Huffington Post reported.
It’s unclear how the MMJ industry may take shape in South Africa, or if private businesses will be permitted.
For example, in Uruguay, the first country to legalize recreational marijuana at the federal level, all sales take place through pharmacies, instead of through privately owned retail shops.
Medical cannabis currently is legal in some countries on the continents of North America, South America, Europe and Australia.
