Marijuana leaves
Sierra Leone, as a country, is facing economic challenges and some of the contributory factors could be but not limited to a drop in the price of iron ore and shady diamond deals with the country not benefitting as it is supposed to be. Besides, we are not realizing much from the agriculture sector simply because it has not been given the requisite attention .This is further worsened by the fact that certain agricultural products are smuggled through our porous borders to neighbouring Guinea and Liberia. This has led to a situation whereby the Leone keeps plummeting in value.
Understandably, the prices of most of our basic commodities keep skyrocketing and this obviously is negatively impinging on improved standards of living.
In order to salvage this ugly trend, in reality, Sierra Leone is very much in need of a new valuable export. The answer could lie in legalizing the cultivation of medicinal cannabis to be a new agricultural export.
From conducted research, the legal global cannabis market is valued at over $20 billion and countries such as Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom as well as African countries such as Zimbabwe and Lesotho are already taking advantage of this new lucrative market.
Without any iota of doubt, Sierra Leone has the perfect conditions for the cultivation of cannabis with a potential to achieve 6 harvests per year in a country where there is able bodied workforce hungry for work opportunities. Sierra Leone easily has the capability to supply the total global demand equating to billions of dollars revenue generation.
It has been speculated that cultivation of medicinal marijuana does not only have the potential to bring in billions of dollars of foreign currency and also reignite the stagnant tourism industry and massively boost Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector.
Countries that have legalized the medicinal use of cannabis have seen vast increase in tourism due to foreign patients looking for an enjoyable place to holiday while having safe access to the medicines they require.
Scientifically, medicinal marijuana has proven to cure or suppress certain ailments such as asthma, acute pain, arthritis etc. and its efficacy has proven to be suitable beyond all reasonable doubts.
Seizing this opportunity to legalize medicinal marijuana and putting the right parameters in place to ensure that it is strictly cultivated only for that purpose will indeed usher immense benefits not only financial-wise to Government’s move at revenue mobilization but could contribute to improved standards of living for farmers engaged in its production.
Indeed, it is good news that already the Sierra Leone Pharmacy Board has started issuing out licences for the production or cultivation of medicinal marijuana and it is hoped that people who have the credibility and capability will be granted permission to do so.
Turning attention to cultivation of medicinal marijuana should be a must and should be an opportunity to grab. The campaign to see reason in legalizing medicinal marijuana must be intensified unabated.