Uganda has secured contracts to export medical marijuana products to Canada and Germany worth more than R2 billion in June. South Africa is also one of the markets for unrefined cannabis buds/flower.
Since December 2017, Kampala has exported the product to South Africa’s National Analytical Forensic Services in Pretoria. An order to Uganda’s Industrial Hemp (U) Ltd, a private company, was valued at $10,000, the Daily Monitor reported on Tuesday.
The marijuana 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.
Orders for Ugandan medical cannabis have been received from at least 20,000 pharmacies in Canada and Germany, according to Benjamin Cadet, one of the directors at Industrial Hemp (U) Ltd, jointly working with an Israel company Together Pharma Ltd.
He says people are using morphine, the main component of opium, as an analgesic for cancer pain. Opium is an Opioid and more addictive and with side effects, yet Cannabinol (CBD) from medical marijuana is the best option for such patients.
WebMD, a global website that provides health information, states that the greatest amount of evidence for the therapeutic effects of cannabis relates to its ability to reduce chronic pain, nausea, and vomiting due to chemotherapy and tight or stiff muscles.
But the benefits of medical marijuana will not be available to Ugandans, yet.
Cadet says cancer patients are using CBD illegally. "We have the scientists and the technology to do this but regulations are not in place to allow cannabis drugs manufactured for domestic consumption"
First Lady Janet Museveni has labeled cannabis 'satanic'. But the issue is due to be debated with other cabinet ministers recognizing the health benefits.
- African News Agency (ANA),
