Cannabis policy changes in Africa are welcome, but small producers are the losers

The International Opium Convention of 1925 institutionalised the international control system regarding cannabis and extended its scope.

In 1961, a new international convention was adopted to replace the existing multilateral treaties for control of narcotic drugs. The prohibitionist framework it provided for control of cannabis was adopted by postcolonial African states. These official efforts succeeded in driving cannabis production underground and limiting its contribution to citizens’ livelihoods. But they failed to eradicate the crop.

Paradoxically, many African states that persecuted citizens for cannabis-related offences for years are now promoting legal cannabis production. Over the past five years, 10 countries have passed laws to legalise production for medical