Kafountine, Senegal | AFP | Most Senegalese farmers sell peanuts and vegetables, but in one hamlet lost in a mangrove swamp in the West African country’s south, only one crop is commercially viable — cannabis. Kouba, a village deep in the mangroves of Casmance and inaccessible by road, teems with caiman …
Read More »High crimes: Britain’s cannabis farms
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A derelict hospital, dog kennels, abandoned warehouses, suburban homes and buried shipping containers — cannabis farms dot Britain, often staffed by Vietnamese migrants-turned-growers. Some have been smuggled in voluntarily, others trafficked against their will. Here are a few high-profile busts involving Vietnamese migrants. – Bunker …
Read More »Foreign hybrids stubbing out Morocco’s renowned cannabis
Ketama, Morocco | AFP | Morocco’s rugged Rif Mountains have long been renowned for their cannabis but traditional varieties are being smoked out by foreign hybrids offering higher yields and greater potency. The local strain of marijuana, known as Beldiya, is coveted by afficionados but is gradually disappearing from the fields …
Read More »In Ethiopia, a rehab centre takes on khat addiction
Mekele, Ethiopia | AFP | Yonas Getu Molla started chewing khat as an architecture student, when he and his friends would munch on the leafy stimulant late into the night to help them study. When they closed their books, their heartbeats racing, they would seek out depressants like vodka and cannabis …
Read More »Residents clear Kitechura forest reserve for marijuana growing
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of Kitechura Central Forest Reserve has been cleared by residents to grow marijuana. The marijuana gardens are estimated to cover twenty hectares of land. The forest reserve located in Kyegegwa District measures approximately 5,330 hectares also is surrounded by Kibaale and Kyenjojo districts. …
Read More »Malawi MPs back bid to draft bill on medical marijuana use
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s parliament has approved steps to draft a bill for the legalisation of marijuana for medical use, which could be ready for scrutiny as early as next week. Deputies agreed to let independent deputy Boniface Kadzamira draw up the bill. It would propose licensing farmers …
Read More »‘Holy plant’: Cannabis legalisation delights South African users
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A bucket containing a soupy green mixture sits under a table in Nduna Ewrong-Nxumalo’s consultation room in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub. The traditional healer, or sangoma, has trusted and prescribed the pungent mixture — cannabis tea — to his patients for years. …
Read More »Zimbabwe legalises cannabis for medical, scientific use
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe has legalised production of cannabis for medicinal or scientific use, according to new regulations seen by AFP Saturday. A statutory instrument entitled Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations, said prospective producers can apply to the health ministry for a licence to …
Read More »Australia cautiously enters medical marijuana market
Melbourne, Australia | AFP | At a secret location in Australia’s southeast, Peter Crook delicately tends to a two-month-old cannabis cutting. Barely knee high, it is one of about 50 government-sanctioned “mother plants” to be cloned for future generations of crops for the country’s fledgling medicinal marijuana industry. “I think we’ll …
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