A Zimbabwean prison is aiming to pilot a commercial cannabis operation to relieve its financial dependence on the state.

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) has applied to grow cannabis on 10 ha at Chiredzi prison in Masvingo Province as part of its efforts to finance its own operations, the state-owned Herald reports. It has also applied to grow sugar cane on its property to generate revenue.

According to CAJNewsAfrica, Harare-based Ivory Medical has already been given the green light to conduct an environmental impact assessment on a 10 ha piece of land at Chiredzi but it is in negotiations to expand the project to 80 ha.

‘We do not intend to produce cannabis for prisoners,’ says ZPCS Masvingo senior assistant commissioner Social Ndanga, adding that one of ‘the requirements of the Ministry of Health and Child Care is that for a mbanje [cannabis] growing licence to be issued, there has to be guarantees of security and availability of land, and Chiredzi prison is secure enough for the herb to be grown while land is also available’.

The country legalised the production of cannabis for medicinal and scientific use last year.

11 June 2019
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