Why is Lesotho’s cannabis boom failing to deliver the prosperity it promised?
Licences to grow are expensive and hard to come by, leaving small-time growers excluded from the economic benefits that were meant to be available to all
The Guardian (UK)
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Even though legislation in 2008 made it possible to grow cannabis for medical or scientific purposes in Lesotho, doing so without a licence from the health ministry, and for recreational use, remains illegal. The Basotho people, many of whom have grown cannabis for decades, say only the elite and multinationals have benefited from the legislation that was heralded as something that would spread the economic gains among many. Lesotho’s politicians have talked about opening up the industry to benefit ordinary people. Emmanuel Letete, then an economist at the ministry for development planning, said in 2019 that cannabis was going to “set the country free”.
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